CSC Volume 2 Ch. 19

Frantically, I pulled out my phone, turned on its flashlight function and looked around, but I couldn't see any traces of my clubmates. I strained my ears, but other than natural, but creepy, forest sounds, I couldn't hear a thing.

A swear word left my lips.

"Now what do I do?" I wondered aloud.

Like Mirai said, the woods around the shrine weren't much of a wilderness. You could even call it a dwarf when compared to the lands claimed by the town. However, woods were woods, and people still get lost in them from time to time. Without Mirai and his clairvoyance, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find my way out.

I sighed.

"Guess I got no choice but to wait," I mumbled. "I hope they find that kid."

Whatever my situation, the kid's took priority. I had my Psy-Armor, so I was sure to be okay. But that kid's probably normal. And if Mirai's clairvoyance was right, something seriously bad could happen to him. Mirai and the others should be able to do something about the kid on their own, but I still felt bad that I wasn't going to be much help. Though, I was unsure just how much help I'd be even if I managed to stick with them.

Just as I had decided to stay put and wait, I heard grass rustle in a way like someone stepping on them. The sound repeated and got louder and louder until I turned around. Standing just a few feet away from me was a man in a plain kimono, colored pavement gray. I was careful not to shine my phone's light on his face, but the light was still bright enough that I could clearly see his face, well sort of. His whole face was covered by a white mask with red line squiggled to form the feature of a snarling dog. Well, I think it's a dog. The features of the mask did look like a dog's, but it had two extra lines across the sides that looked like whiskers, like a cat fish's.

I was a bit relieved at first, thinking that my ticket out of the woods had just walked up to me. But then I got wary. By the look of his getup, he was a festival goer, but what was he doing here? Although I wasn't one to talk, the woods were part of private property. And I don't think anyone would be here after dark, all alone, unless they had a good reason.

"H-hi!" I called out. "Uh . . ."

I wasn't sure what to say. But then the man lifted his left arm and pointed his long-slender finger that way.

"The boy thou seeks is through there," he whispered. For some reason, it almost sounded like there were two guys standing next to me, speaking into both of my ears. "But thou must hurry, for the child is in mortal peril."

I perked up. The masked guy spoke in a weird way, but I understood him well enough. Basically, he was saying that the kid I was looking for was in danger. In that case, I couldn't waste anymore time.

"Thanks, weird dude!"

I gave my thanks to the stranger and ran off, following the direction his finger had pointed. It was dark, and I kept ramming into hard trees and waded through bushes full of pointy branches. I'd be a mess if I didn't have my Psy-Armor to keep all that off me.

"Hey!" I called out. "Is anyone there?"

I couldn't see a thing in front of me, even with the light from my smartphone. And since my calls got no answers, my only choice was the press on, keeping as straight a path as I could. All the while, I could hear that guy's voice speaking to me, constantly reminding me that the kid was in danger.

"Hey!" I called out again. But still, I got no response. "Damn it!"

Frustrated, I swore and wondered to myself what was I going to do. I know I needed to find the kid as fast as I could, but it seemed like I was never going to find him. Was I going the right way? Did that weird mask dude even point me in the right direction? But more importantly, will I make it in time?

Questions and dark thoughts swirled in my mind in a seemingly endless spiral, but then a voice shouted into both my ears.

"There! To the right! The boy!"

I turned right and there was the kid, identical to the photo I was shown, right down to the strand of hair on his head. He was turned his head right and left, bent down like he was hunchbacked while circling around in clear fright.

"He stands atop the edge of a cliff!" 

That's not good, I thought.

"Hey! Kid!" 

The kid instantly straightened up and turned around. He had heard me and looked my way. However, as soon as our eyes met, his widened in a state of fright.

"No!" he cried out. "Stay away!"

He turned around and ran, and I ran after him.

"Wait!" I shouted. "Stop! Don't!"

But my pleas fell to deaf ears. The boy kept running and soon enough disappeared downward.

I was horrified and cried out, "No!"

I didn't really think about it at the time, but at the same time, I think someone cried out together with me. Lots of someones.

Before I could even think, I chased after the boy. I felt a slight tap against my back, and in my panic, I activated my power and when I kicked off, a force of explosion launched me forward like a cannonball flying out of a cannon.

Like I said, I was panicked, so I didn't give the comic book hero move any thought whatsoever. My eyes were solely on the boy falling to an abyss of darkness.

I kicked and kicked, and kicked. The added explosions to each kicked was just the boost I needed to reach the kid, catch him in my arms and then softly touch down on the bottom of the cliff. 

I'd like to say that my landing was as cool and graceful as a comic book hero, but that would be lying. As soon as my feet touched the ground, my knees buckled and both me and the kid tumbled onto dirt. 

I rolled to a stop on my back. And rolling my eyes to the top of my head, I could see the boy had done the same. We both laid on the ground, arms and legs spread out like we were going to make snow angels and faced the sky where streaks of light bloomed into colorful flowers.

"Aw man." Although I wasn't particularly interested in fireworks, I still had hopes of watching them someplace more comfortable. I have a thing for experiencing things in optimal conditions.

The fireworks show didn't even last a minute before the night sky became dark and all was quiet again.

After the show ended, I spoke up.

"Hey," I said. "Hey, kid."

"Yeah?" The kid replied back in a soft, but clear voice.

"You okay?"

There was a short pause.

"Uh-huh."

"You know," I said, "your mom's looking for you. She's really worried."

"Uh-huh," the kid replied back. And then, after a short pause, he added, "She's going to be oni-mad at me, isn't she?"

"Probably," I said, thinking back to how understandably irritable the lady was. "Better be ready to be yelled at."

*****

Mirai

*****

After trudging through nature for several minutes, me, Homura and Lady Isaneko finally found our lost companion who got separated from our party during our quest, as well as the target of our quest through the leaf dungeon. Well, jokes aside, I was mighty relieved to see Oota and the kid together and almost unscathed (give or take a scratch or two) after finding them in a clearing beneath a cliff. Although, I nearly had a heart attack when I first spotted them lying on the ground.

As soon as me and Homura helped Oota and the kid to their feet, we all made our way back to the festival grounds, and to the broadcast tent where we reunited the kid with his mom. The mom was really happy to see her son safe and sound, and we got a lot of praise from the other grownups. I couldn't help but be pleased about that since it meant that our club will now get even more popular. But for some reason, as the mother and son duo departed the tent for home, Oota put his hand to his chest in solemn prayer, as if he was sending the kid off to war.

Of course, I had a lot of questions about this whole mess, like: why was the kid in the woods in the first place? How did Oota manage to find the kid first? But more importantly, why did Lady Tsubaki, former head of the Shirogami Clan, insist that I bring Oota to the festival in the first place? And how was that going to help with my own plans?

Because of all the hubbub the grownups made, I missed my chance to really delve into those mysteries until it was time to go home, and missed my chance entirely to get some answers. I was especially curious about what happened to Oota while he was lost in the woods.

I had goals, you see. Stuff that I absolutely had to accomplish no matter what the cost. Protecting Homura from the Piper a few months back was only one of them. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but let's just say that there was a moment in my life where I was able to see the future far beyond a mere fifteen minutes. I think I told the others as much when we met during the aftermath of the Piper Case. And I had plans to meet that future head on.

But whether or not those plans would actually work is something I could not say. Unlike Lady Tsubaki and her ancestors, I didn't have the power to figure out how to get the best possible ending in this game called life. My power is mainly just digging up spoilers and going from there. 

Don't worry, I told myself. The plan will work. This is a plan with Lady Tsubaki's seal of approval. 

But Lady Tsubaki's power isn't all it's cracked up to be anymore, another more negative side of myself said. After all, didn't she just lose everything to a coup? Since she couldn't do anything about it except run away, doesn't that mean there's a chance that things could go wrong with the plan too?

Shut up! I shouted at myself. It will work! It will!

But no matter how much I try to consciously deny it, the fear and uncertainty I had would not go away. It had always been like that, but in recent days, it's gotten much worse. This was, of course, thanks to this whole arson case, which was never supposed to happen.

Could it be because I changed the future? I wondered. Is that why that case happened? What if something even worse happens in the future? It could throw the whole plan out of wack.

"Mirai? Mirai!"

Lady Isaneko's voice snapped me out of my dark place and I turned to respond.

"Yes, My Lady?" I clicked my heels together, put my right hand over my chest, and bowed. "What can this humble servant do for you?"

But Lady Isaneko wasn't in the mood to humor me.

"You can drop the act," she said. "It's just us two right now."

I looked around, surprised to see she was right. It was just us two in the middle of road at night with blinding white lamp light hanging over our heads.

"Where'd everyone go?" I asked.

"Oota and Yuna split two crossroads back and Homura's stop was the last right turn," Isaneko explained. "We've already gone past my house, but I wanted to talk to you."

"Really? Sorry about that," I apologized. "I was so deep in thought, I didn't notice."

"Care to share those thoughts?" Isaneko requested.

But I shook my head.

"It's nothing useful," I told her.

"So mulling over some self-doubt then," Isaneko said.

"Was it that obvious?" I asked.

"To me, at least," Isaneko said. "We've known each other for a really, really long time. We are partners, after all, working together to achieve our own individual goals, using the same tools given to us by our mysterious supporter in the shadows, and following the advice of Lady Tsubaki. Though I still fail to see how their advice this time around can help us in any way. I was wondering what would happen to Oota tonight, but as far as I can see, there's no change. Furthermore, is it even possible to make Oota even stronger than he already is? I'm all for gaining more power if it guarantees we get what we want in the end, but I think he's plenty powerful enough as is."

I shrugged.

"Who can say?" I said. "I saw Oota save the kid with my third eye, but that was it. Anything before that was a complete blank. I guess only time will tell if we did gain anything from this. All we can really do is keep an eye on him and go from there."

"I suppose so," Isaneko agreed. "But to think that our plans centers almost entirely around a semi shut-in nerdboy. I can see why you'd be worried."

"That's a bit harsh on Oota, don't you think?" I said.

Isaneko just shrugged and turned to walk away. With nothing more to say, it was time for her to go home. But after taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped. She turned around again, opened her mouth to say something and then closed it, appearing to change her mind.

Finally, she said, "Good night, partner."

With a wry grin, I replied, "Good night, partner."

And then we turned our backs to each other and went our separate ways, unaware of a disaster over the horizon.

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The Vampire's Coffee Shop Ch. 4

 Chapter 4

The Admin Tower

A few days ago, Mrs. Arkans took (by force) Peggy on a tour of the town. During that tour, Peggy learned about the Admin Tower, the chess rook-shaped tower that stood next to the castle-like library. Never did Peggy imagine that she would be looking up at the tower again so soon. To learn why, we turn time back to this morning at the coffee shop.

On a whim, the town's Magic Director, a lady who likes to fly around as a creepy, old-fashioned doll and is usually called the Head Magus by most people, came by for breakfast, taking a seat by the counter and started chatting with the Owner. Although she and the Owner were snarky to each other, Peggy had a feeling that they were actually getting along pretty well. 

"Paperwork has been a nightmare!" the doll complained. "I keep telling the guys up top to change the worksheets so they'd be easier for normal folks to fill out, but they're just too stubborn! Thanks to that, almost all the papers that get turned in to us are full of mistakes! And all that does is give us pen pushers even more work to deal with than we need! I tell you, those worksheets are a nightmare for everyone."

As Peggy came back from clearing a table that just became free, the doll suddenly turned and said, "I'm sure paperwork must have been a nightmare for you too, Peggy."

Peggy stopped by the cash register and blinked.

"Huh? What paperwork?" she asked.

"Why, the paperwork that says you want to live here, silly," replied the doll. 

But even with that explanation, Peggy could only stare at the doll with a bewildered look. 

"I . . . never did any paperwork like that," she said. "I didn't even know you needed something like that to live here."

"Say wha-?" The doll's jaw literally dropped to the floor, and her eyes popped out as well. They rolled to the front door just as a scruffy dog man walked in and stopped at his feet. Startled, the dog man howled in fright and fled.

Peeved, Boss snapped at the doll, "Oi! Quit scaring away my customers!"

The doll, however, snapped back, "Oh shut up, you coffee-for-brains moron! How could you forget something as important as Peggy's paperwork! You're supposed to be her guardian!"

"What?" the Boss said defensively. "I was going to get it done eventually."

"Eventually when?" the doll asked. "Next century?"

Bothered about the comment about having a guardian as if she was still a kid, Peggy tried to interject, "Uh, you know I'm already an adult, right? I graduated high school and everything." But the doll ignored her.

After downing her coffee in one gulp and slamming the cup on the table, the Head Magus said, "I'll take the rest to go. Peggy, be at the Admin Tower in one hour. No, thirty minutes tops. We have a lot of work to take care of. Hopefully, I can get everything sorted out before there's trouble."

And then she snatched the bag of take-out food from the Boss's hands and zipped out the door before anyone could get another word in.

With really no choice, the Boss gave Peggy the rest of the day off and sent her out to the Admin Tower, but not before giving her a bat plush doll.

"In case you get lost, just throw it, and the bat will show you the way," he said.

No sooner after stepping out of the shop, Peggy did just that. She had only been to the tower once and was not confident she could find her way without any help.

The bat doll fluttered in the air with rapidly beating wings. It circled around Peggy's head a few times a and squeaked before flying ahead. To Peggy, it almost sounded like the doll had said, "Follow me," in its own language. 

Following the bat, Peggy zigzagged through the streets of Featherkeep, crossed bridges over canals, passed by stores and restaurants that looked like wood houses, and pushed through streets filled with people crowding outdoor food stalls. Finally, after a really long walk that left her feet sore, she spotted a familiar chess rook-shaped building. And that brings us to the present where she's staring up at the tower, scratching her head in puzzlement.

"Well, I'm here," she muttered to herself. "But now how do I get in?"

You'd think that a place where the townsfolk go for help would have a door, but all Peggy could find, circling the tower at least twice, was brick wall, brick wall, and more brick wall. In other words, there was no door and no way inside.

As she pondered what to do next, Peggy rubbed her chin thoughtfully and then tilted sideways to peek around the tower's right one more time.

"Is this even the right place?" she wondered. You could practically see the question marks flashing over her head. And then she swayed and tilted left to look around the tower's other side. All that did was confirm what she already knew: that there was no door or entrance of any kind into the tower. "Maybe someone at the library next door will know."

Peggy decided that rather than waste time standing around making circles in her head, it would be better to go find someone who might know anything. But just as she was about to turn and leave, Peggy heard footsteps coming from her right. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small green man with pointed ears, wearing a white lab coat approach. The green man was a goblin. She quickly stepped out of the man's way and watched as he walked up to the brick wall of the Admin Tower.

The goblin seemed preoccupied with the mirror in his hand and took no notice of Peggy, sort of like how most people walked around with smartphones back on Earth. He walked straight to the wall, stopped right in front of it, and then placed his right hand on the tower.

Curious, Peggy stayed a few feet away and watched.

"Department of Alchemy," the goblin said.

Suddenly, one by one, the bricks of the wall in front of him folded into each other, going, "click-click-click-click-click!" until finally, there was a perfectly square opening into a hallway inside the building. Once the goblin stepped inside, the bricks all folded out again until the tower was once more sealed shut.

Peggy walked over to the spot the goblin had been, folded her arms and stared at the brick wall while the magical thing she just saw sunk in.

Suddenly, a lady's voice spoke up.

"Can I help you with something?"

Startled, Peggy jumped and looked around, but she didn't find anyone behind her.

"Who said that?" she wondered.

"I did," said the lady's voice.

Peggy looked around some more, but there was still no one around. But then, a thought crossed her mind.

"Wait a minute," she said. "It can't be . . ."

She slowly turned her head and once more, faced the brick wall of the Admin Tower. Pointing a finger at the wall, she said, "Were you the one who -?"

"Spoke up? Yes, that's right," said the lady's voice. "I am the artificial intelligence in charge of this tower that serves as Featherkeep Town's administration building. In other words, this tower has a mind of its own, and I am that mind."

"So basically, you're a building that can talk," Peggy summed up. "I didn't even know buildings could talk in this world."

That last part was mostly just mumbling to herself.

"Pretty much," said the lady's voice. "Although I can do a lot more than just talk. Anyway, what are you here for? Since you're here, you must have some civil-related business, right?"

"Uh, I think so," said Peggy. "I was just told to come by someone who works here."

This feels so weird and so wrong, she thought about talking with a building. I just know I look like a crazy person right now. I hope no one sees me like this. Better to just hurry up and get inside.

"People call her the Head Magus," she told the building.

"Oh! So you're the Head Magus' guest," said the tower. "She told us she had someone coming over to fill out some forms. So that's you. Well, no sense keeping you waiting out here. Come right on in! Bleeeeeh."

The brick wall in front of Peggy became a giant mouth that opened wide with a huge, thick tongue rolled out to make climbing inside easier.

"Oi," Peggy said, glowering at the mouth. "Why'd the green dude earlier get an awesome, mystical wall parting and I get some silly big mouth and tongue?"

"Because he's actually someone important and you're a nobody from out of town?"

"Why I oughta!"

Peggy had a few choice words for the talking building, but then someone behind her tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Uh, can you hurry this up? I got a meeting I need to get to that could change the fate of this town."

The one in a hurry was a lady in sparkly blue robes and a big pointed hat, carrying a huge book in her arm.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" Peggy quickly apologized to the lady and climbed into the giant mouth. The tongue was squishy beneath her feet, which she could feel through her shoes and it sent shivers down her spine. 

Once through the mouth, she emerged in a hallway that was wide, tall and full of doors. Peggy sort of expected it from the way the town looked, but the hallway, while grand, had an old-timey vibe, like she had stepped back in time seventy or so years ago instead of an entire world entirely. The doors and wall-embedded pillars were polished dark wood, the floor was made up of shining tiles of white stone with pearly-colored veins spread out like jagged cracks, and glass lamps shaped like flowers hung on the walls in evenly spaced columns. 

At a glance, it was just a normal hallway. But there was one thing about the hallway that stood out, and that was it had white feather chickens and brown feather roosters marching back and forth in the hallway with envelopes and paper-wrapped packages balanced on their heads.

While staring at the ground-bound birds running errands, Peggy muttered, "Hey, Admin Tower. What's up with all these chickens?"

"Oh, well, I used to be the home of a witch who came to this kingdom hundreds of years ago," said the building. "She was a huge fan of chickens as pets, and raised a whole bunch of them. A bit too much, apparently. When she moved away, she left both me and the chickens behind and gave the land back to the kingdom. These chickens are the descendants of her pets. When the people made me into their town office, they let the chickens stay as workers."

"I see," Peggy said as she watched a line of chickens march by.

Careful not to disturb the parade of flightless birds, Peggy made her way down the hallway towards the very end where the Head Magus' office laid, just like the Admin Tower told her. For a door that led to the office of the town's top magician, it was nothing special. It was the same as any other door in the hallway. But according to the bronze plaque stuck beneath the doors blurred window, it was definitely the right one.

After being sure she was at the right door, Peggy wrapped her fingers around the brass doorknob and turned it. She pushed the door open and inside, looking up from papers spread out on an old, rectangle desk was a skeleton, a full on set of human bones, in a grey suit with patched elbows.

"Howdy," said the skeleton, waving a hand. Like the rest of him, there was no skin or muscles. Just what they normally covered bared out.

Without answering or going inside, Peggy closed the door.

<== Chapter 3                                                                              Chapter 5 ==>