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…
Chester managed to reach the community centre in under five minutes. Notably, it takes about twenty to thirty for Miss Cheshire to reach the building, depending on how chatty she felt that day, or how available was Miss Elefantus. To make it even more impressive, he did so while having four other kids follow him all the way. True, they were all gasping for air, and one was going through some ghastly coughing fits. Also, if Azure didn’t leave with Kage earlier, he would have noted how poorly dressed they all were. One was wearing slippers, for example. Then again, Chester wouldn’t have considered it to matter much.
“Let’s get inside,” he told them. He took the hamster girl by the arm, “You first, Mimmy! Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”
“I’m not sick! I just have a runny nose!” the young girl tried to argue, before coughing up rather loudly again.
“Ugh,” Chester cringed. “Great, and now you gonna get everyone sick! Once we get home, I’m gonna make you drink a buttload of medicine!”
“But I’m not sick!” Mimmy protested, punctuating with a cough.
“Doesn’t matter! Cough syrup for you! The strong one!” Chester said, then pushed her in.
The poor hamster protested as she got in. Lily entered immediately to help her with undressing. Chester motioned everyone else to follow.
“Do people die if they get sick?” Brian asked, while passing by.
“Heard of a plague?” Chester retorted.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“One killed half of the population of the earth.”
“REALLY!?” Brian’s eyes went wide with shock.
“He’s making it up, right?” Tiana said, looking at others with hope. Mimmy, already pale looking turned even more white from hearing that.
“He’s probably doing that,” Lily commented on it, while helping the hamster girl undress her coat. It revealed that she only wore a single, long-sleeved shirt underneath it. “There is no way one sickness could do that, and you are saying it because you want to teach Mimmy a lesson, right?”
The younger bat looked into Chester’s eyes. The hedgehog looked back at her quizzically. To be fair, this was the first he ever had to deal with that kid directly. He just heard about her moving in to their orphanage, then didn’t even bother to care about her at all. What was she doing exactly?
“Technically speaking, he is not actually making it up.”
The four kids turned to look at the other end of the hall. Instead of any member of the voluntary staff, there stood a young goose boy.
“It is factually correct,” Matthew said. “However! He did exaggerate the quantity of the victims that were taken by the plague a bit. It had mostly been centered only around one continent, just to be sure. And, we have yet to face any similarly large losses due to sicknesses for decades now.”
The kids’ jaws dropped. Chester just furrowed his brows, before tilting his head to the side. He was still reeling from the sudden appearance of a person he had not expected to see so soon.
“Mister Goose!” yelled Mimmy happily, coughing a bit.
As she tried to run into him to give a hug, the bird raised his hands to stop her.
“I am very pleased to see you here as well!” he said smiling at her. “But please, let us not run the risk of contamination.”
Mimmy looked downwards, all dejected.
“Whatcha doing here, Matthew?” Chester asked him, getting the door closed. Everyone were taking off their hats and coats, as the building was plenty warm.
“I am about to say the same thing myself. But, if I may ask, would you kindly answer first?”
“Grocery shopping,” Chester spat.
Matthew scoffed, making loud honks resound in the hall.
“Grocery shopping at the community centre, what a ridiculous notion!” he laughed for a bit. “You truly are a marvelous jokester, my dear Chester!” He gave another loud honk, enough to annoy the staring hedgehog.
“Is that everything?” Chester asked frankly. “If you gonna make fun of me-”
“Oh no, I-I did not mean to, um…” Matthew stammered. The boy was seemingly getting worked up out of thin air. “I was, well, erm, you know,…trying to make a joke.”
Chester raised one eyebrow, looking unimpressed.
“Well, erm, anyway, may I ask, as well, if you don’t mind, to accompany you?”
“Why?” asked Chester.
“I just, erm, well, you see, I, er….kinda lonely.”
Chester kept on looking unimpressed, but shrugged at it all the same. To him, an adult always has some sort of a motive. But a kid? If they said they did just cause they wanted to, they probably did.
They all entered the dining area. It was impossibly packed, Chester quickly realized. The amount of people staying inside that one building was even tighter than their house’s broom closet, while also being way louder. There were men and women, no kids, and only middle-age and up. Chester’s mouth got loose momentarily, the longer it took him to see anything but another tightly-wedged body of an old fart in his way.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed.
He tried to go up to a wall and see if he could climb it. He hoped he could at least find a line for the food bank. After looking for less than a minute, he gave up.
“This has gotta be a joke, I don’t think we can get the food before the end of the day!” Chester proclaimed. “Actually, I don’t think there be any left for us!”
“Well, I guess such thing has bound to happen,” Matthew noted. “Especially as of late, as more people have chosen to flee the town, and less people have to come to visit, due to monster attacks. There is an indiscriminate sense of panic, whereas the possibility of a terrifying future has come to loom the town. Or so they say.”
Chester inspected the goose. “Where did you learn that from?”
“Well, thanks to my friend, Napoleon, of course. My friends do inform well, as a matter of fact!”
“Which friend was that?” Chester asked.
“The male one,” Matthew answered dryly. Then he quickly coughed, “He is hard to understand, a bit.”
Chester nodded due to a realization, then quickly focused again on the crowd. This is the “Student Crash” all over again, he thought.
In the end, they all keep searching for the line. Luckily it didn’t prove too hard, since the lines have been divided, and they were showed to the end of the nearest one. That said, it was pinned right into the wall on the opposite side, and even bent a bit. Chester figured, as tragically as it sounded to him, that this was going to take quite a while.
The line moved with every two minutes. This would have been acceptable pace to anyone, but Chester just quickly got bored after one. The younger kids were in similar position, begging the hedgehog to let them run around. With no energy to look after them for so long, he let them go, stating that if they don’t come back by the time he leaves, he’ll leave them there to look after themselves. None of them found that hard enough of a threat. Still, they did keep in mind that he might do that, so they mostly roam within his view.
“I will say, having to wait for so long, it is truthfully, unequivocally, certainly without a shred of doubt…a ‘drag,’” stated Matthew, telling it to the sitting hedgehog. The latter moved his head to look up.
“Why are you still here?”
Matthew looked confused, but then quickly answered with, “You meant me?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you go and play with them or something.”
Matthew gave a chortle, which contained his signature honking.
“Oh, do not mind me, my good fri-… acquaintance Chester!” Matthew corrected himself. “I simply wish to hang around with you, and only you! I am not here to play with children, but to spend my ever so precious time with a friend of my friend, who happens to be my intellectual equal!”
Chester’s brow became raised.
“Oh please, do not be so surprised! I actually have never told it to anyone, but I do happen to be a fan of you! Yes! Very much so! Though your crinkled brows may say you find this statement a complete hogwash, I assure you that it is indeed true! Here, as a sign of goodwill, may I offer you a joke that I personally enjoy?” Chester wanted to say no, but the goose continued without waiting for the answer. “Why does a bike, an inanimate object who is alive, decided to not work anymore?”
Chester kept his mouth shut.
“Because…wait for it…he was TWO-TIRED!” Matthew then gave an obnoxiously loud laugh. Every adult who stood near them gave looks, before carefully sidestepping away from the two. “My goodness, wasn’t it funny?”
Chester didn’t attempt to answer, as his eyes were too squinted.
“Oh of course it is, why am I asking this, it is a pun! And puns are, pardon my usage of vernacular such as this, hilarious! Whatever the type they are, the results are always entertaining! Oh, and have you heard another one, about the beetle that crossed the road? Ah, you probably heard it, it is a classic! So, the reason it crossed the road is because of double entendre…actually, let me reinstate it from the beginning you see…”
Chester shifted his positioned, ignoring the rambling of the fellow intellectual equal of his, to bash his head against the floor. Within his deepest of hopes, he fall unconscious and stay like that, until they finally reach the front.
Where did all the spirits go to?
…
Within the dining room, two seats were occupied by the table. Varvara’s mother was in the other room, due to being unwell, according to her father. So, only two of them were able to be present. Well, them plus a duo of spirits.
Varvara had some trouble with keeping herself calm, despite the way the situation was. True, both Rose and Zamarad were at her back. And yes, there was no need for her to do anything. The only one who would be talking will be her emerald companion spirit. Yet, was it really out of the question to not feel anxious from having to be in a place like this?
Could she really choose to come down, just like that?
<You may, with practice,> noted Zamarad, lightly.
Oh, thought Varvara. Then, her stomach continued to twist into a knot, while both her hands and feet went on fidgeting. She considered possibly asking how to do that later.
Her father took a sip from his cup, which held his favorite hot drink made of ginger and other herbs. There was a stern look on him that she seldomly seen him wear. Only by the phone, and only when he was sure no one was looking. She felt that Zamarad, even if barely affected by it, wasn’t going to deny the penetrating gaze he was giving her. Perhaps lizards tended to do better jobs at it than other. Regardless, he meant business, it was clear as day.
“So,” began her father, putting his mug on the table. His voice was calm and business-like. “I want this straight. You are…ghosts?”
“It would be correct, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad answered him proudly. “We are the strayed spirits of noble warriors, from the times of old, far beyond your own.”
“Very well,” he answered, unperturbed. Despite being much smaller than her in the transformed state, he managed to keep a presence that was just as unbreakable as hers. “So, what do you do, exactly?”
“We are tasked in ridding the earth of the dark forces, known as Torques, which are led by the evil Lord Vaco, a man fixated on emptying this world with all the life in it, alongside with his generals.”
Her father nodded slowly.
“I see. And this…’Lord Vaco’, he’s a…really bad person, then?”
“He is embodiment of evil. It was due to him that we died once. It is because of him that I stand here, my kingdom destroyed completely, that once belonging to my master, the princess herself. She is also here, albeit you cannot see her. Her partner happens to be Young Flora, the girl who has been living in your quarters as of late.”
His hand was covering his mouth and his gaze wasn’t directed at her, but his full understanding of the situation was clear.
“So then…how successful were you?”
“Alas, not quite. This man’s goal eludes us, and we only managed to find the secret passage that he had held himself in, which could not be accessed by mere mortal means. As of now, we do not know clearly where his current whereabouts are, nor is it clear what are his relations to this town. There is more to learn, but that shall take time.”
He nodded again. Varvara wanted to get up and leave the conversation.
“Do you think you can…still stop him?”
“If not us, then no one will, I am afraid,” said Zamarad curtly.
He sighed, but nodded in return.
“Is there, uh, a reason, you need my daughter for this?” he said, scratching the back of his head.
“Unfortunately, it was all circumstantial that she became my medium. I had not chosen her myself, but the magic has bonded us already. Since several moons ago, me and your daughter have become almost inseparable.”
He took another drink of his mug, then cleared his throat. He was looking less than pleased with it. Varvara was afraid that this was the case.
“Can you switch it to someone else?”
“Unfortunately, it would be more difficult to accomplish. Not that I haven’t offered myself,” Zamarad said, laughing a bit at the end.
“But is there a way? I just need to know,” he asked her.
Zamarad took a pause to think. Varvara suddenly felt the pressure in her throat rise again. She was feeling more panicky, now.
“If your daughter…is willing, there might be,” Zamarad admitted.
He leaned closer, “So, is she willing then?” The question felt like he was about to make a demand. Varvara wanted to curl up into a ball.
“You may ask of it yourself,” Zamarad said. “But! Not right now.”
Her father’s expression turned quizzical.
“Why not now? What is it?”
“You may not see it due to my possession of her, but your daughter is panicking.”
The man became silent, as his eyes grew big. He spatted then with, “Let me see her, what is wrong!?”
Soon after he shot up, but Zamarad raised one hand, which belonged to Varvara. Slowly, she guided him back to his seat.
“All is fine. But she is anxious,” she explained calmly. “She must be given time to herself, if you do not mind. She is but a child.”
“And that’s why you made her into a soldier?” her father blurted out.
Varvara felt goosebumps go up her spine, only for her fist to clench. The latter was because of Zamarad.
“Zamarad, stay calm!” Rose said to her.
Her fist was still tight, and only managed to release itself very slowly.
“Forgive me, Sir Kartankele. I seemed to have lost my temper there,” Zamarad admitted.
“Really?” her father asked. “Because I am not quite sure what to make of this.”
“I know of your loss well, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad replied, keeping calm throughout. “ Please believe me, I do. I have seen what she has seen.”
Mister Kartankele turned pale.
“What do you mean, she seen it?” he asked, his voice trembling. Suddenly, his presence stopped pushing Varvara down.
Seeing it, Zamarad became confused, only to deflate as well. Meanwhile, Varvara couldn’t help but panic again, in a different manner altogether.
“I didn’t know how to tell you, Tata!” she exclaimed suddenly. His demeanor changed again, in a way that made her feel worse.
“Vara? Is that you?” he asked, becoming teary-eyed. “What is going on?”
Varvara then felt a spiritual hand touch her shoulder. She looked at Rose, whose lips were moving, as if she was against saying what she wanted to say.
“The clown! He has moved!” Rose told them in the end. “Forgive me, Varvara…” she added, quietly.
Suddenly, it was as if Varvara’s mind triggered a switch.
“Tata, sorry!” she said. “We have to go now!”
Her father looked at her, confused. “What monster? Vara where are you-“
“I’ll be back, I promise!” she exclaimed, without looking back at him.
She left the house in an unprecedented speed, even for her. Her focused has landed squarely on the monster clown. And just like that, her panic has left her. She had no idea why, but she felt an exhilarating relief, that she could think clearly again.
And she didn’t like that.
<Varvara…>
She looked at Rose. The rose-haired spirit said to her, in a stoic manner,
“Let us collect the others first. I believe that this should be our last fight with that monster…”
…
-----------------------------------------
…
Chester managed to reach the community centre in under five minutes. Notably, it takes about twenty to thirty for Miss Cheshire to reach the building, depending on how chatty she felt that day, or how available was Miss Elefantus. To make it even more impressive, he did so while having four other kids follow him all the way. True, they were all gasping for air, and one was going through some ghastly coughing fits. Also, if Azure didn’t leave with Kage earlier, he would have noted how poorly dressed they all were. One was wearing slippers, for example. Then again, Chester wouldn’t have considered it to matter much.
“Let’s get inside,” he told them. He took the hamster girl by the arm, “You first, Mimmy! Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”
“I’m not sick! I just have a runny nose!” the young girl tried to argue, before coughing up rather loudly again.
“Ugh,” Chester cringed. “Great, and now you gonna get everyone sick! Once we get home, I’m gonna make you drink a buttload of medicine!”
“But I’m not sick!” Mimmy protested, punctuating with a cough.
“Doesn’t matter! Cough syrup for you! The strong one!” Chester said, then pushed her in.
The poor hamster protested as she got in. Lily entered immediately to help her with undressing. Chester motioned everyone else to follow.
“Do people die if they get sick?” Brian asked, while passing by.
“Heard of a plague?” Chester retorted.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“One killed half of the population of the earth.”
“REALLY!?” Brian’s eyes went wide with shock.
“He’s making it up, right?” Tiana said, looking at others with hope. Mimmy, already pale looking turned even more white from hearing that.
“He’s probably doing that,” Lily commented on it, while helping the hamster girl undress her coat. It revealed that she only wore a single, long-sleeved shirt underneath it. “There is no way one sickness could do that, and you are saying it because you want to teach Mimmy a lesson, right?”
The younger bat looked into Chester’s eyes. The hedgehog looked back at her quizzically. To be fair, this was the first he ever had to deal with that kid directly. He just heard about her moving in to their orphanage, then didn’t even bother to care about her at all. What was she doing exactly?
“Technically speaking, he is not actually making it up.”
The four kids turned to look at the other end of the hall. Instead of any member of the voluntary staff, there stood a young goose boy.
“It is factually correct,” Matthew said. “However! He did exaggerate the quantity of the victims that were taken by the plague a bit. It had mostly been centered only around one continent, just to be sure. And, we have yet to face any similarly large losses due to sicknesses for decades now.”
The kids’ jaws dropped. Chester just furrowed his brows, before tilting his head to the side. He was still reeling from the sudden appearance of a person he had not expected to see so soon.
“Mister Goose!” yelled Mimmy happily, coughing a bit.
As she tried to run into him to give a hug, the bird raised his hands to stop her.
“I am very pleased to see you here as well!” he said smiling at her. “But please, let us not run the risk of contamination.”
Mimmy looked downwards, all dejected.
“Whatcha doing here, Matthew?” Chester asked him, getting the door closed. Everyone were taking off their hats and coats, as the building was plenty warm.
“I am about to say the same thing myself. But, if I may ask, would you kindly answer first?”
“Grocery shopping,” Chester spat.
Matthew scoffed, making loud honks resound in the hall.
“Grocery shopping at the community centre, what a ridiculous notion!” he laughed for a bit. “You truly are a marvelous jokester, my dear Chester!” He gave another loud honk, enough to annoy the staring hedgehog.
“Is that everything?” Chester asked frankly. “If you gonna make fun of me-”
“Oh no, I-I did not mean to, um…” Matthew stammered. The boy was seemingly getting worked up out of thin air. “I was, well, erm, you know,…trying to make a joke.”
Chester raised one eyebrow, looking unimpressed.
“Well, erm, anyway, may I ask, as well, if you don’t mind, to accompany you?”
“Why?” asked Chester.
“I just, erm, well, you see, I, er….kinda lonely.”
Chester kept on looking unimpressed, but shrugged at it all the same. To him, an adult always has some sort of a motive. But a kid? If they said they did just cause they wanted to, they probably did.
They all entered the dining area. It was impossibly packed, Chester quickly realized. The amount of people staying inside that one building was even tighter than their house’s broom closet, while also being way louder. There were men and women, no kids, and only middle-age and up. Chester’s mouth got loose momentarily, the longer it took him to see anything but another tightly-wedged body of an old fart in his way.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed.
He tried to go up to a wall and see if he could climb it. He hoped he could at least find a line for the food bank. After looking for less than a minute, he gave up.
“This has gotta be a joke, I don’t think we can get the food before the end of the day!” Chester proclaimed. “Actually, I don’t think there be any left for us!”
“Well, I guess such thing has bound to happen,” Matthew noted. “Especially as of late, as more people have chosen to flee the town, and less people have to come to visit, due to monster attacks. There is an indiscriminate sense of panic, whereas the possibility of a terrifying future has come to loom the town. Or so they say.”
Chester inspected the goose. “Where did you learn that from?”
“Well, thanks to my friend, Napoleon, of course. My friends do inform well, as a matter of fact!”
“Which friend was that?” Chester asked.
“The male one,” Matthew answered dryly. Then he quickly coughed, “He is hard to understand, a bit.”
Chester nodded due to a realization, then quickly focused again on the crowd. This is the “Student Crash” all over again, he thought.
In the end, they all keep searching for the line. Luckily it didn’t prove too hard, since the lines have been divided, and they were showed to the end of the nearest one. That said, it was pinned right into the wall on the opposite side, and even bent a bit. Chester figured, as tragically as it sounded to him, that this was going to take quite a while.
The line moved with every two minutes. This would have been acceptable pace to anyone, but Chester just quickly got bored after one. The younger kids were in similar position, begging the hedgehog to let them run around. With no energy to look after them for so long, he let them go, stating that if they don’t come back by the time he leaves, he’ll leave them there to look after themselves. None of them found that hard enough of a threat. Still, they did keep in mind that he might do that, so they mostly roam within his view.
“I will say, having to wait for so long, it is truthfully, unequivocally, certainly without a shred of doubt…a ‘drag,’” stated Matthew, telling it to the sitting hedgehog. The latter moved his head to look up.
“Why are you still here?”
Matthew looked confused, but then quickly answered with, “You meant me?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you go and play with them or something.”
Matthew gave a chortle, which contained his signature honking.
“Oh, do not mind me, my good fri-… acquaintance Chester!” Matthew corrected himself. “I simply wish to hang around with you, and only you! I am not here to play with children, but to spend my ever so precious time with a friend of my friend, who happens to be my intellectual equal!”
Chester’s brow became raised.
“Oh please, do not be so surprised! I actually have never told it to anyone, but I do happen to be a fan of you! Yes! Very much so! Though your crinkled brows may say you find this statement a complete hogwash, I assure you that it is indeed true! Here, as a sign of goodwill, may I offer you a joke that I personally enjoy?” Chester wanted to say no, but the goose continued without waiting for the answer. “Why does a bike, an inanimate object who is alive, decided to not work anymore?”
Chester kept his mouth shut.
“Because…wait for it…he was TWO-TIRED!” Matthew then gave an obnoxiously loud laugh. Every adult who stood near them gave looks, before carefully sidestepping away from the two. “My goodness, wasn’t it funny?”
Chester didn’t attempt to answer, as his eyes were too squinted.
“Oh of course it is, why am I asking this, it is a pun! And puns are, pardon my usage of vernacular such as this, hilarious! Whatever the type they are, the results are always entertaining! Oh, and have you heard another one, about the beetle that crossed the road? Ah, you probably heard it, it is a classic! So, the reason it crossed the road is because of double entendre…actually, let me reinstate it from the beginning you see…”
Chester shifted his positioned, ignoring the rambling of the fellow intellectual equal of his, to bash his head against the floor. Within his deepest of hopes, he fall unconscious and stay like that, until they finally reach the front.
Where did all the spirits go to?
…
Within the dining room, two seats were occupied by the table. Varvara’s mother was in the other room, due to being unwell, according to her father. So, only two of them were able to be present. Well, them plus a duo of spirits.
Varvara had some trouble with keeping herself calm, despite the way the situation was. True, both Rose and Zamarad were at her back. And yes, there was no need for her to do anything. The only one who would be talking will be her emerald companion spirit. Yet, was it really out of the question to not feel anxious from having to be in a place like this?
Could she really choose to come down, just like that?
<You may, with practice,> noted Zamarad, lightly.
Oh, thought Varvara. Then, her stomach continued to twist into a knot, while both her hands and feet went on fidgeting. She considered possibly asking how to do that later.
Her father took a sip from his cup, which held his favorite hot drink made of ginger and other herbs. There was a stern look on him that she seldomly seen him wear. Only by the phone, and only when he was sure no one was looking. She felt that Zamarad, even if barely affected by it, wasn’t going to deny the penetrating gaze he was giving her. Perhaps lizards tended to do better jobs at it than other. Regardless, he meant business, it was clear as day.
“So,” began her father, putting his mug on the table. His voice was calm and business-like. “I want this straight. You are…ghosts?”
“It would be correct, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad answered him proudly. “We are the strayed spirits of noble warriors, from the times of old, far beyond your own.”
“Very well,” he answered, unperturbed. Despite being much smaller than her in the transformed state, he managed to keep a presence that was just as unbreakable as hers. “So, what do you do, exactly?”
“We are tasked in ridding the earth of the dark forces, known as Torques, which are led by the evil Lord Vaco, a man fixated on emptying this world with all the life in it, alongside with his generals.”
Her father nodded slowly.
“I see. And this…’Lord Vaco’, he’s a…really bad person, then?”
“He is embodiment of evil. It was due to him that we died once. It is because of him that I stand here, my kingdom destroyed completely, that once belonging to my master, the princess herself. She is also here, albeit you cannot see her. Her partner happens to be Young Flora, the girl who has been living in your quarters as of late.”
His hand was covering his mouth and his gaze wasn’t directed at her, but his full understanding of the situation was clear.
“So then…how successful were you?”
“Alas, not quite. This man’s goal eludes us, and we only managed to find the secret passage that he had held himself in, which could not be accessed by mere mortal means. As of now, we do not know clearly where his current whereabouts are, nor is it clear what are his relations to this town. There is more to learn, but that shall take time.”
He nodded again. Varvara wanted to get up and leave the conversation.
“Do you think you can…still stop him?”
“If not us, then no one will, I am afraid,” said Zamarad curtly.
He sighed, but nodded in return.
“Is there, uh, a reason, you need my daughter for this?” he said, scratching the back of his head.
“Unfortunately, it was all circumstantial that she became my medium. I had not chosen her myself, but the magic has bonded us already. Since several moons ago, me and your daughter have become almost inseparable.”
He took another drink of his mug, then cleared his throat. He was looking less than pleased with it. Varvara was afraid that this was the case.
“Can you switch it to someone else?”
“Unfortunately, it would be more difficult to accomplish. Not that I haven’t offered myself,” Zamarad said, laughing a bit at the end.
“But is there a way? I just need to know,” he asked her.
Zamarad took a pause to think. Varvara suddenly felt the pressure in her throat rise again. She was feeling more panicky, now.
“If your daughter…is willing, there might be,” Zamarad admitted.
He leaned closer, “So, is she willing then?” The question felt like he was about to make a demand. Varvara wanted to curl up into a ball.
“You may ask of it yourself,” Zamarad said. “But! Not right now.”
Her father’s expression turned quizzical.
“Why not now? What is it?”
“You may not see it due to my possession of her, but your daughter is panicking.”
The man became silent, as his eyes grew big. He spatted then with, “Let me see her, what is wrong!?”
Soon after he shot up, but Zamarad raised one hand, which belonged to Varvara. Slowly, she guided him back to his seat.
“All is fine. But she is anxious,” she explained calmly. “She must be given time to herself, if you do not mind. She is but a child.”
“And that’s why you made her into a soldier?” her father blurted out.
Varvara felt goosebumps go up her spine, only for her fist to clench. The latter was because of Zamarad.
“Zamarad, stay calm!” Rose said to her.
Her fist was still tight, and only managed to release itself very slowly.
“Forgive me, Sir Kartankele. I seemed to have lost my temper there,” Zamarad admitted.
“Really?” her father asked. “Because I am not quite sure what to make of this.”
“I know of your loss well, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad replied, keeping calm throughout. “ Please believe me, I do. I have seen what she has seen.”
Mister Kartankele turned pale.
“What do you mean, she seen it?” he asked, his voice trembling. Suddenly, his presence stopped pushing Varvara down.
Seeing it, Zamarad became confused, only to deflate as well. Meanwhile, Varvara couldn’t help but panic again, in a different manner altogether.
“I didn’t know how to tell you, Tata!” she exclaimed suddenly. His demeanor changed again, in a way that made her feel worse.
“Vara? Is that you?” he asked, becoming teary-eyed. “What is going on?”
Varvara then felt a spiritual hand touch her shoulder. She looked at Rose, whose lips were moving, as if she was against saying what she wanted to say.
“The clown! He has moved!” Rose told them in the end. “Forgive me, Varvara…” she added, quietly.
Suddenly, it was as if Varvara’s mind triggered a switch.
“Tata, sorry!” she said. “We have to go now!”
Her father looked at her, confused. “What monster? Vara where are you-“
“I’ll be back, I promise!” she exclaimed, without looking back at him.
She left the house in an unprecedented speed, even for her. Her focused has landed squarely on the monster clown. And just like that, her panic has left her. She had no idea why, but she felt an exhilarating relief, that she could think clearly again.
And she didn’t like that.
<Varvara…>
She looked at Rose. The rose-haired spirit said to her, in a stoic manner,
“Let us collect the others first. I believe that this should be our last fight with that monster…”
…
I'm not really late, just a bit paused. Sorry
Enjoy your evening!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…
Chester managed to reach the community centre in under five minutes. Notably, it takes about twenty to thirty for Miss Cheshire to reach the building, depending on how chatty she felt that day, or how available was Miss Elefantus. To make it even more impressive, he did so while having four other kids follow him all the way. True, they were all gasping for air, and one was going through some ghastly coughing fits. Also, if Azure didn’t leave with Kage earlier, he would have noted how poorly dressed they all were. One was wearing slippers, for example. Then again, Chester wouldn’t have considered it to matter much.
“Let’s get inside,” he told them. He took the hamster girl by the arm, “You first, Mimmy! Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”
“I’m not sick! I just have a runny nose!” the young girl tried to argue, before coughing up rather loudly again.
“Ugh,” Chester cringed. “Great, and now you gonna get everyone sick! Once we get home, I’m gonna make you drink a buttload of medicine!”
“But I’m not sick!” Mimmy protested, punctuating with a cough.
“Doesn’t matter! Cough syrup for you! The strong one!” Chester said, then pushed her in.
The poor hamster protested as she got in. Lily entered immediately to help her with undressing. Chester motioned everyone else to follow.
“Do people die if they get sick?” Brian asked, while passing by.
“Heard of a plague?” Chester retorted.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“One killed half of the population of the earth.”
“REALLY!?” Brian’s eyes went wide with shock.
“He’s making it up, right?” Tiana said, looking at others with hope. Mimmy, already pale looking turned even more white from hearing that.
“He’s probably doing that,” Lily commented on it, while helping the hamster girl undress her coat. It revealed that she only wore a single, long-sleeved shirt underneath it. “There is no way one sickness could do that, and you are saying it because you want to teach Mimmy a lesson, right?”
The younger bat looked into Chester’s eyes. The hedgehog looked back at her quizzically. To be fair, this was the first he ever had to deal with that kid directly. He just heard about her moving in to their orphanage, then didn’t even bother to care about her at all. What was she doing exactly?
“Technically speaking, he is not actually making it up.”
The four kids turned to look at the other end of the hall. Instead of any member of the voluntary staff, there stood a young goose boy.
“It is factually correct,” Matthew said. “However! He did exaggerate the quantity of the victims that were taken by the plague a bit. It had mostly been centered only around one continent, just to be sure. And, we have yet to face any similarly large losses due to sicknesses for decades now.”
The kids’ jaws dropped. Chester just furrowed his brows, before tilting his head to the side. He was still reeling from the sudden appearance of a person he had not expected to see so soon.
“Mister Goose!” yelled Mimmy happily, coughing a bit.
As she tried to run into him to give a hug, the bird raised his hands to stop her.
“I am very pleased to see you here as well!” he said smiling at her. “But please, let us not run the risk of contamination.”
Mimmy looked downwards, all dejected.
“Whatcha doing here, Matthew?” Chester asked him, getting the door closed. Everyone were taking off their hats and coats, as the building was plenty warm.
“I am about to say the same thing myself. But, if I may ask, would you kindly answer first?”
“Grocery shopping,” Chester spat.
Matthew scoffed, making loud honks resound in the hall.
“Grocery shopping at the community centre, what a ridiculous notion!” he laughed for a bit. “You truly are a marvelous jokester, my dear Chester!” He gave another loud honk, enough to annoy the staring hedgehog.
“Is that everything?” Chester asked frankly. “If you gonna make fun of me-”
“Oh no, I-I did not mean to, um…” Matthew stammered. The boy was seemingly getting worked up out of thin air. “I was, well, erm, you know,…trying to make a joke.”
Chester raised one eyebrow, looking unimpressed.
“Well, erm, anyway, may I ask, as well, if you don’t mind, to accompany you?”
“Why?” asked Chester.
“I just, erm, well, you see, I, er….kinda lonely.”
Chester kept on looking unimpressed, but shrugged at it all the same. To him, an adult always has some sort of a motive. But a kid? If they said they did just cause they wanted to, they probably did.
They all entered the dining area. It was impossibly packed, Chester quickly realized. The amount of people staying inside that one building was even tighter than their house’s broom closet, while also being way louder. There were men and women, no kids, and only middle-age and up. Chester’s mouth got loose momentarily, the longer it took him to see anything but another tightly-wedged body of an old fart in his way.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed.
He tried to go up to a wall and see if he could climb it. He hoped he could at least find a line for the food bank. After looking for less than a minute, he gave up.
“This has gotta be a joke, I don’t think we can get the food before the end of the day!” Chester proclaimed. “Actually, I don’t think there be any left for us!”
“Well, I guess such thing has bound to happen,” Matthew noted. “Especially as of late, as more people have chosen to flee the town, and less people have to come to visit, due to monster attacks. There is an indiscriminate sense of panic, whereas the possibility of a terrifying future has come to loom the town. Or so they say.”
Chester inspected the goose. “Where did you learn that from?”
“Well, thanks to my friend, Napoleon, of course. My friends do inform well, as a matter of fact!”
“Which friend was that?” Chester asked.
“The male one,” Matthew answered dryly. Then he quickly coughed, “He is hard to understand, a bit.”
Chester nodded due to a realization, then quickly focused again on the crowd. This is the “Student Crash” all over again, he thought.
In the end, they all keep searching for the line. Luckily it didn’t prove too hard, since the lines have been divided, and they were showed to the end of the nearest one. That said, it was pinned right into the wall on the opposite side, and even bent a bit. Chester figured, as tragically as it sounded to him, that this was going to take quite a while.
The line moved with every two minutes. This would have been acceptable pace to anyone, but Chester just quickly got bored after one. The younger kids were in similar position, begging the hedgehog to let them run around. With no energy to look after them for so long, he let them go, stating that if they don’t come back by the time he leaves, he’ll leave them there to look after themselves. None of them found that hard enough of a threat. Still, they did keep in mind that he might do that, so they mostly roam within his view.
“I will say, having to wait for so long, it is truthfully, unequivocally, certainly without a shred of doubt…a ‘drag,’” stated Matthew, telling it to the sitting hedgehog. The latter moved his head to look up.
“Why are you still here?”
Matthew looked confused, but then quickly answered with, “You meant me?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you go and play with them or something.”
Matthew gave a chortle, which contained his signature honking.
“Oh, do not mind me, my good fri-… acquaintance Chester!” Matthew corrected himself. “I simply wish to hang around with you, and only you! I am not here to play with children, but to spend my ever so precious time with a friend of my friend, who happens to be my intellectual equal!”
Chester’s brow became raised.
“Oh please, do not be so surprised! I actually have never told it to anyone, but I do happen to be a fan of you! Yes! Very much so! Though your crinkled brows may say you find this statement a complete hogwash, I assure you that it is indeed true! Here, as a sign of goodwill, may I offer you a joke that I personally enjoy?” Chester wanted to say no, but the goose continued without waiting for the answer. “Why does a bike, an inanimate object who is alive, decided to not work anymore?”
Chester kept his mouth shut.
“Because…wait for it…he was TWO-TIRED!” Matthew then gave an obnoxiously loud laugh. Every adult who stood near them gave looks, before carefully sidestepping away from the two. “My goodness, wasn’t it funny?”
Chester didn’t attempt to answer, as his eyes were too squinted.
“Oh of course it is, why am I asking this, it is a pun! And puns are, pardon my usage of vernacular such as this, hilarious! Whatever the type they are, the results are always entertaining! Oh, and have you heard another one, about the beetle that crossed the road? Ah, you probably heard it, it is a classic! So, the reason it crossed the road is because of double entendre…actually, let me reinstate it from the beginning you see…”
Chester shifted his positioned, ignoring the rambling of the fellow intellectual equal of his, to bash his head against the floor. Within his deepest of hopes, he fall unconscious and stay like that, until they finally reach the front.
Where did all the spirits go to?
…
Within the dining room, two seats were occupied by the table. Varvara’s mother was in the other room, due to being unwell, according to her father. So, only two of them were able to be present. Well, them plus a duo of spirits.
Varvara had some trouble with keeping herself calm, despite the way the situation was. True, both Rose and Zamarad were at her back. And yes, there was no need for her to do anything. The only one who would be talking will be her emerald companion spirit. Yet, was it really out of the question to not feel anxious from having to be in a place like this?
Could she really choose to come down, just like that?
<You may, with practice,> noted Zamarad, lightly.
Oh, thought Varvara. Then, her stomach continued to twist into a knot, while both her hands and feet went on fidgeting. She considered possibly asking how to do that later.
Her father took a sip from his cup, which held his favorite hot drink made of ginger and other herbs. There was a stern look on him that she seldomly seen him wear. Only by the phone, and only when he was sure no one was looking. She felt that Zamarad, even if barely affected by it, wasn’t going to deny the penetrating gaze he was giving her. Perhaps lizards tended to do better jobs at it than other. Regardless, he meant business, it was clear as day.
“So,” began her father, putting his mug on the table. His voice was calm and business-like. “I want this straight. You are…ghosts?”
“It would be correct, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad answered him proudly. “We are the strayed spirits of noble warriors, from the times of old, far beyond your own.”
“Very well,” he answered, unperturbed. Despite being much smaller than her in the transformed state, he managed to keep a presence that was just as unbreakable as hers. “So, what do you do, exactly?”
“We are tasked in ridding the earth of the dark forces, known as Torques, which are led by the evil Lord Vaco, a man fixated on emptying this world with all the life in it, alongside with his generals.”
Her father nodded slowly.
“I see. And this…’Lord Vaco’, he’s a…really bad person, then?”
“He is embodiment of evil. It was due to him that we died once. It is because of him that I stand here, my kingdom destroyed completely, that once belonging to my master, the princess herself. She is also here, albeit you cannot see her. Her partner happens to be Young Flora, the girl who has been living in your quarters as of late.”
His hand was covering his mouth and his gaze wasn’t directed at her, but his full understanding of the situation was clear.
“So then…how successful were you?”
“Alas, not quite. This man’s goal eludes us, and we only managed to find the secret passage that he had held himself in, which could not be accessed by mere mortal means. As of now, we do not know clearly where his current whereabouts are, nor is it clear what are his relations to this town. There is more to learn, but that shall take time.”
He nodded again. Varvara wanted to get up and leave the conversation.
“Do you think you can…still stop him?”
“If not us, then no one will, I am afraid,” said Zamarad curtly.
He sighed, but nodded in return.
“Is there, uh, a reason, you need my daughter for this?” he said, scratching the back of his head.
“Unfortunately, it was all circumstantial that she became my medium. I had not chosen her myself, but the magic has bonded us already. Since several moons ago, me and your daughter have become almost inseparable.”
He took another drink of his mug, then cleared his throat. He was looking less than pleased with it. Varvara was afraid that this was the case.
“Can you switch it to someone else?”
“Unfortunately, it would be more difficult to accomplish. Not that I haven’t offered myself,” Zamarad said, laughing a bit at the end.
“But is there a way? I just need to know,” he asked her.
Zamarad took a pause to think. Varvara suddenly felt the pressure in her throat rise again. She was feeling more panicky, now.
“If your daughter…is willing, there might be,” Zamarad admitted.
He leaned closer, “So, is she willing then?” The question felt like he was about to make a demand. Varvara wanted to curl up into a ball.
“You may ask of it yourself,” Zamarad said. “But! Not right now.”
Her father’s expression turned quizzical.
“Why not now? What is it?”
“You may not see it due to my possession of her, but your daughter is panicking.”
The man became silent, as his eyes grew big. He spatted then with, “Let me see her, what is wrong!?”
Soon after he shot up, but Zamarad raised one hand, which belonged to Varvara. Slowly, she guided him back to his seat.
“All is fine. But she is anxious,” she explained calmly. “She must be given time to herself, if you do not mind. She is but a child.”
“And that’s why you made her into a soldier?” her father blurted out.
Varvara felt goosebumps go up her spine, only for her fist to clench. The latter was because of Zamarad.
“Zamarad, stay calm!” Rose said to her.
Her fist was still tight, and only managed to release itself very slowly.
“Forgive me, Sir Kartankele. I seemed to have lost my temper there,” Zamarad admitted.
“Really?” her father asked. “Because I am not quite sure what to make of this.”
“I know of your loss well, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad replied, keeping calm throughout. “ Please believe me, I do. I have seen what she has seen.”
Mister Kartankele turned pale.
“What do you mean, she seen it?” he asked, his voice trembling. Suddenly, his presence stopped pushing Varvara down.
Seeing it, Zamarad became confused, only to deflate as well. Meanwhile, Varvara couldn’t help but panic again, in a different manner altogether.
“I didn’t know how to tell you, Tata!” she exclaimed suddenly. His demeanor changed again, in a way that made her feel worse.
“Vara? Is that you?” he asked, becoming teary-eyed. “What is going on?”
Varvara then felt a spiritual hand touch her shoulder. She looked at Rose, whose lips were moving, as if she was against saying what she wanted to say.
“The clown! He has moved!” Rose told them in the end. “Forgive me, Varvara…” she added, quietly.
Suddenly, it was as if Varvara’s mind triggered a switch.
“Tata, sorry!” she said. “We have to go now!”
Her father looked at her, confused. “What monster? Vara where are you-“
“I’ll be back, I promise!” she exclaimed, without looking back at him.
She left the house in an unprecedented speed, even for her. Her focused has landed squarely on the monster clown. And just like that, her panic has left her. She had no idea why, but she felt an exhilarating relief, that she could think clearly again.
And she didn’t like that.
<Varvara…>
She looked at Rose. The rose-haired spirit said to her, in a stoic manner,
“Let us collect the others first. I believe that this should be our last fight with that monster…”
…
Enjoy your evening!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…
Chester managed to reach the community centre in under five minutes. Notably, it takes about twenty to thirty for Miss Cheshire to reach the building, depending on how chatty she felt that day, or how available was Miss Elefantus. To make it even more impressive, he did so while having four other kids follow him all the way. True, they were all gasping for air, and one was going through some ghastly coughing fits. Also, if Azure didn’t leave with Kage earlier, he would have noted how poorly dressed they all were. One was wearing slippers, for example. Then again, Chester wouldn’t have considered it to matter much.
“Let’s get inside,” he told them. He took the hamster girl by the arm, “You first, Mimmy! Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”
“I’m not sick! I just have a runny nose!” the young girl tried to argue, before coughing up rather loudly again.
“Ugh,” Chester cringed. “Great, and now you gonna get everyone sick! Once we get home, I’m gonna make you drink a buttload of medicine!”
“But I’m not sick!” Mimmy protested, punctuating with a cough.
“Doesn’t matter! Cough syrup for you! The strong one!” Chester said, then pushed her in.
The poor hamster protested as she got in. Lily entered immediately to help her with undressing. Chester motioned everyone else to follow.
“Do people die if they get sick?” Brian asked, while passing by.
“Heard of a plague?” Chester retorted.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“One killed half of the population of the earth.”
“REALLY!?” Brian’s eyes went wide with shock.
“He’s making it up, right?” Tiana said, looking at others with hope. Mimmy, already pale looking turned even more white from hearing that.
“He’s probably doing that,” Lily commented on it, while helping the hamster girl undress her coat. It revealed that she only wore a single, long-sleeved shirt underneath it. “There is no way one sickness could do that, and you are saying it because you want to teach Mimmy a lesson, right?”
The younger bat looked into Chester’s eyes. The hedgehog looked back at her quizzically. To be fair, this was the first he ever had to deal with that kid directly. He just heard about her moving in to their orphanage, then didn’t even bother to care about her at all. What was she doing exactly?
“Technically speaking, he is not actually making it up.”
The four kids turned to look at the other end of the hall. Instead of any member of the voluntary staff, there stood a young goose boy.
“It is factually correct,” Matthew said. “However! He did exaggerate the quantity of the victims that were taken by the plague a bit. It had mostly been centered only around one continent, just to be sure. And, we have yet to face any similarly large losses due to sicknesses for decades now.”
The kids’ jaws dropped. Chester just furrowed his brows, before tilting his head to the side. He was still reeling from the sudden appearance of a person he had not expected to see so soon.
“Mister Goose!” yelled Mimmy happily, coughing a bit.
As she tried to run into him to give a hug, the bird raised his hands to stop her.
“I am very pleased to see you here as well!” he said smiling at her. “But please, let us not run the risk of contamination.”
Mimmy looked downwards, all dejected.
“Whatcha doing here, Matthew?” Chester asked him, getting the door closed. Everyone were taking off their hats and coats, as the building was plenty warm.
“I am about to say the same thing myself. But, if I may ask, would you kindly answer first?”
“Grocery shopping,” Chester spat.
Matthew scoffed, making loud honks resound in the hall.
“Grocery shopping at the community centre, what a ridiculous notion!” he laughed for a bit. “You truly are a marvelous jokester, my dear Chester!” He gave another loud honk, enough to annoy the staring hedgehog.
“Is that everything?” Chester asked frankly. “If you gonna make fun of me-”
“Oh no, I-I did not mean to, um…” Matthew stammered. The boy was seemingly getting worked up out of thin air. “I was, well, erm, you know,…trying to make a joke.”
Chester raised one eyebrow, looking unimpressed.
“Well, erm, anyway, may I ask, as well, if you don’t mind, to accompany you?”
“Why?” asked Chester.
“I just, erm, well, you see, I, er….kinda lonely.”
Chester kept on looking unimpressed, but shrugged at it all the same. To him, an adult always has some sort of a motive. But a kid? If they said they did just cause they wanted to, they probably did.
They all entered the dining area. It was impossibly packed, Chester quickly realized. The amount of people staying inside that one building was even tighter than their house’s broom closet, while also being way louder. There were men and women, no kids, and only middle-age and up. Chester’s mouth got loose momentarily, the longer it took him to see anything but another tightly-wedged body of an old fart in his way.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed.
He tried to go up to a wall and see if he could climb it. He hoped he could at least find a line for the food bank. After looking for less than a minute, he gave up.
“This has gotta be a joke, I don’t think we can get the food before the end of the day!” Chester proclaimed. “Actually, I don’t think there be any left for us!”
“Well, I guess such thing has bound to happen,” Matthew noted. “Especially as of late, as more people have chosen to flee the town, and less people have to come to visit, due to monster attacks. There is an indiscriminate sense of panic, whereas the possibility of a terrifying future has come to loom the town. Or so they say.”
Chester inspected the goose. “Where did you learn that from?”
“Well, thanks to my friend, Napoleon, of course. My friends do inform well, as a matter of fact!”
“Which friend was that?” Chester asked.
“The male one,” Matthew answered dryly. Then he quickly coughed, “He is hard to understand, a bit.”
Chester nodded due to a realization, then quickly focused again on the crowd. This is the “Student Crash” all over again, he thought.
In the end, they all keep searching for the line. Luckily it didn’t prove too hard, since the lines have been divided, and they were showed to the end of the nearest one. That said, it was pinned right into the wall on the opposite side, and even bent a bit. Chester figured, as tragically as it sounded to him, that this was going to take quite a while.
The line moved with every two minutes. This would have been acceptable pace to anyone, but Chester just quickly got bored after one. The younger kids were in similar position, begging the hedgehog to let them run around. With no energy to look after them for so long, he let them go, stating that if they don’t come back by the time he leaves, he’ll leave them there to look after themselves. None of them found that hard enough of a threat. Still, they did keep in mind that he might do that, so they mostly roam within his view.
“I will say, having to wait for so long, it is truthfully, unequivocally, certainly without a shred of doubt…a ‘drag,’” stated Matthew, telling it to the sitting hedgehog. The latter moved his head to look up.
“Why are you still here?”
Matthew looked confused, but then quickly answered with, “You meant me?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you go and play with them or something.”
Matthew gave a chortle, which contained his signature honking.
“Oh, do not mind me, my good fri-… acquaintance Chester!” Matthew corrected himself. “I simply wish to hang around with you, and only you! I am not here to play with children, but to spend my ever so precious time with a friend of my friend, who happens to be my intellectual equal!”
Chester’s brow became raised.
“Oh please, do not be so surprised! I actually have never told it to anyone, but I do happen to be a fan of you! Yes! Very much so! Though your crinkled brows may say you find this statement a complete hogwash, I assure you that it is indeed true! Here, as a sign of goodwill, may I offer you a joke that I personally enjoy?” Chester wanted to say no, but the goose continued without waiting for the answer. “Why does a bike, an inanimate object who is alive, decided to not work anymore?”
Chester kept his mouth shut.
“Because…wait for it…he was TWO-TIRED!” Matthew then gave an obnoxiously loud laugh. Every adult who stood near them gave looks, before carefully sidestepping away from the two. “My goodness, wasn’t it funny?”
Chester didn’t attempt to answer, as his eyes were too squinted.
“Oh of course it is, why am I asking this, it is a pun! And puns are, pardon my usage of vernacular such as this, hilarious! Whatever the type they are, the results are always entertaining! Oh, and have you heard another one, about the beetle that crossed the road? Ah, you probably heard it, it is a classic! So, the reason it crossed the road is because of double entendre…actually, let me reinstate it from the beginning you see…”
Chester shifted his positioned, ignoring the rambling of the fellow intellectual equal of his, to bash his head against the floor. Within his deepest of hopes, he fall unconscious and stay like that, until they finally reach the front.
Where did all the spirits go to?
…
Within the dining room, two seats were occupied by the table. Varvara’s mother was in the other room, due to being unwell, according to her father. So, only two of them were able to be present. Well, them plus a duo of spirits.
Varvara had some trouble with keeping herself calm, despite the way the situation was. True, both Rose and Zamarad were at her back. And yes, there was no need for her to do anything. The only one who would be talking will be her emerald companion spirit. Yet, was it really out of the question to not feel anxious from having to be in a place like this?
Could she really choose to come down, just like that?
<You may, with practice,> noted Zamarad, lightly.
Oh, thought Varvara. Then, her stomach continued to twist into a knot, while both her hands and feet went on fidgeting. She considered possibly asking how to do that later.
Her father took a sip from his cup, which held his favorite hot drink made of ginger and other herbs. There was a stern look on him that she seldomly seen him wear. Only by the phone, and only when he was sure no one was looking. She felt that Zamarad, even if barely affected by it, wasn’t going to deny the penetrating gaze he was giving her. Perhaps lizards tended to do better jobs at it than other. Regardless, he meant business, it was clear as day.
“So,” began her father, putting his mug on the table. His voice was calm and business-like. “I want this straight. You are…ghosts?”
“It would be correct, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad answered him proudly. “We are the strayed spirits of noble warriors, from the times of old, far beyond your own.”
“Very well,” he answered, unperturbed. Despite being much smaller than her in the transformed state, he managed to keep a presence that was just as unbreakable as hers. “So, what do you do, exactly?”
“We are tasked in ridding the earth of the dark forces, known as Torques, which are led by the evil Lord Vaco, a man fixated on emptying this world with all the life in it, alongside with his generals.”
Her father nodded slowly.
“I see. And this…’Lord Vaco’, he’s a…really bad person, then?”
“He is embodiment of evil. It was due to him that we died once. It is because of him that I stand here, my kingdom destroyed completely, that once belonging to my master, the princess herself. She is also here, albeit you cannot see her. Her partner happens to be Young Flora, the girl who has been living in your quarters as of late.”
His hand was covering his mouth and his gaze wasn’t directed at her, but his full understanding of the situation was clear.
“So then…how successful were you?”
“Alas, not quite. This man’s goal eludes us, and we only managed to find the secret passage that he had held himself in, which could not be accessed by mere mortal means. As of now, we do not know clearly where his current whereabouts are, nor is it clear what are his relations to this town. There is more to learn, but that shall take time.”
He nodded again. Varvara wanted to get up and leave the conversation.
“Do you think you can…still stop him?”
“If not us, then no one will, I am afraid,” said Zamarad curtly.
He sighed, but nodded in return.
“Is there, uh, a reason, you need my daughter for this?” he said, scratching the back of his head.
“Unfortunately, it was all circumstantial that she became my medium. I had not chosen her myself, but the magic has bonded us already. Since several moons ago, me and your daughter have become almost inseparable.”
He took another drink of his mug, then cleared his throat. He was looking less than pleased with it. Varvara was afraid that this was the case.
“Can you switch it to someone else?”
“Unfortunately, it would be more difficult to accomplish. Not that I haven’t offered myself,” Zamarad said, laughing a bit at the end.
“But is there a way? I just need to know,” he asked her.
Zamarad took a pause to think. Varvara suddenly felt the pressure in her throat rise again. She was feeling more panicky, now.
“If your daughter…is willing, there might be,” Zamarad admitted.
He leaned closer, “So, is she willing then?” The question felt like he was about to make a demand. Varvara wanted to curl up into a ball.
“You may ask of it yourself,” Zamarad said. “But! Not right now.”
Her father’s expression turned quizzical.
“Why not now? What is it?”
“You may not see it due to my possession of her, but your daughter is panicking.”
The man became silent, as his eyes grew big. He spatted then with, “Let me see her, what is wrong!?”
Soon after he shot up, but Zamarad raised one hand, which belonged to Varvara. Slowly, she guided him back to his seat.
“All is fine. But she is anxious,” she explained calmly. “She must be given time to herself, if you do not mind. She is but a child.”
“And that’s why you made her into a soldier?” her father blurted out.
Varvara felt goosebumps go up her spine, only for her fist to clench. The latter was because of Zamarad.
“Zamarad, stay calm!” Rose said to her.
Her fist was still tight, and only managed to release itself very slowly.
“Forgive me, Sir Kartankele. I seemed to have lost my temper there,” Zamarad admitted.
“Really?” her father asked. “Because I am not quite sure what to make of this.”
“I know of your loss well, Sir Kartankele,” Zamarad replied, keeping calm throughout. “ Please believe me, I do. I have seen what she has seen.”
Mister Kartankele turned pale.
“What do you mean, she seen it?” he asked, his voice trembling. Suddenly, his presence stopped pushing Varvara down.
Seeing it, Zamarad became confused, only to deflate as well. Meanwhile, Varvara couldn’t help but panic again, in a different manner altogether.
“I didn’t know how to tell you, Tata!” she exclaimed suddenly. His demeanor changed again, in a way that made her feel worse.
“Vara? Is that you?” he asked, becoming teary-eyed. “What is going on?”
Varvara then felt a spiritual hand touch her shoulder. She looked at Rose, whose lips were moving, as if she was against saying what she wanted to say.
“The clown! He has moved!” Rose told them in the end. “Forgive me, Varvara…” she added, quietly.
Suddenly, it was as if Varvara’s mind triggered a switch.
“Tata, sorry!” she said. “We have to go now!”
Her father looked at her, confused. “What monster? Vara where are you-“
“I’ll be back, I promise!” she exclaimed, without looking back at him.
She left the house in an unprecedented speed, even for her. Her focused has landed squarely on the monster clown. And just like that, her panic has left her. She had no idea why, but she felt an exhilarating relief, that she could think clearly again.
And she didn’t like that.
<Varvara…>
She looked at Rose. The rose-haired spirit said to her, in a stoic manner,
“Let us collect the others first. I believe that this should be our last fight with that monster…”
…
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 120 x 120px
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