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Tarot Tori Police Department

September 8th X288

Florian could not believe what she was writing. It had been the most eventful day of her life, yet she could not decipher any part of it in her journal. Only Mayor Banquet’s spirit was lingering in her mind, unnamed. Florian was still contemplating what she should have said to the mayor. He had commanded the crowd like an orchestra. His soul had a mouth so big it could have swallowed Florian whole. Usually, she could piece events together and conclude right away the symbolism of individuals’ souls. This time she was utterly stumped.

The police questioning did not go in her favor either. Sergeant Honest Nowell was still in police custody, and the lack of defining features of their assailant was not helping their case. The only thing they had to go by was that the kidnapper was male and about five foot seven inches. Even what would have been smoke-filled security footage was all lost in the fire.

When the Cobblestone parents picked up both Florian and Hope at the station, they squeezed them tight and did not let go until they all were safe at home.

🙠🙢

The following day, Florian entered her classroom, shoulders slouched. Consumed with processing her thoughts, Florian planted her face into her desk. Her classmates could almost see steam escape from her head.

Soon all of Florian’s classmates crowded around her, each with their spirit in tow.

“Flori! You were on TV!” Alexander Rodriguez said, with his monkey spirit applauding.

“Yeah! What happened!?” Amalia Simmers said as her bat ogled Florian with wide-open eyes.

“I tried texting her as soon as I saw her,” Samuel said, with his kangaroo spirit scratching its ear.

“Same,” a boy with a horse said.

“I didn’t get in contact with her either,” the quiet girl in the back of the class with a snail added.

“Calm down, everyone. Flori’s still rebooting from whatever happened. She’s been like this since grade school. I’m sure there’s a good reason why she couldn’t text us back,” Alexander said. His monkey waved its tail like a flag.

“The police must have confiscated her phone,” Amalia said as her bat let out a big yawn.

“That must be it!” the entire class agreed.

“I was so worried when I saw Flori covered in soot,” a girl with a rabbit added.

“Yeah, before the mayor’s speech, there was news of a burning building,” said the boy with a boar.

“Really!? Were you in a burning building? Flori?” the boy with a penguin asked.

“Florian! What did you do?” the class murmured, all worried.

“Is Hope all right?” a girl with a mongoose asked.

“The news said Florian rescued the mayor’s daughter,” their teacher hollered out to the class.

“Cool!”

“Flori, that’s amazing!”

“That’s Florian, all right!”

“When Flori feels better, let’s have a party!”

The entire class was in agreement.

Florian, with her head glued to the desk, shuddered.

Amalia, Florian’s trusted secretary, noticed Florian whisper something under her breath. Both Amalia and her bat spirit brought their ears closer.

One by one, the class went silent.

“What’s going on?”

“Did Florian say something?”

“Shhh.”

Amalia stood up. “Flori said the culprit is still on the loose.”

“Wait, so does that mean they might go after the mayor’s daughter again?” someone in the crowd asked.

“Even worse, they might go after Florian or Hope for revenge,” another said.

“No way!?” The class started to fret.

“Don’t worry! Hope goes to the same elementary school as my kid brother. I will call him up to get a group to stay with Hope after school,” said the boy with the boar spirit.

“Yeah, I will text my little sister too. She can tag along,” said the girl with the rabbit spirit.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Brilliant. We will all go home in groups. If you see anything suspicious, text the group chat,” Alexander said as his monkey hopped onto his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about us, Flori. We’ve got your back,” Amalia said.

Florian, still slumped on her desk, gave a thumbs up.

Her friends were very comforting, yet she did not see them as friends. They were more like thankful acquaintances in Florian’s eyes. Of course, her “acquaintances” didn’t see her that way.

Four upperclassmen invaded the freshman classroom. One boy had an ox spirit. Another boy had a crow spirit perched on his head. The third boy crept about with a hyena.

The girl lurking behind them had a cluster of fur for a soul. She had long blonde hair, a black headband, a down expression, and seemed out of place.

“Where’s the girl that was on TV?” the boy with the ox asked.

His lackeys chuckled. The girl with the fur cluster spirit didn’t.

“This is Florian’s homeroom. What do you want with her?” a classmate said.

“I’m here to make the city’s hero my girlfriend,” the ox boy said as his ox huffed and puffed.

The hyena and crow lackey boys laughed at the sheer brilliance of their friend’s plan. The blonde girl looked disappointed, as if discouraged she was in the same room as the other three.

“Wow,” said a classmate.

“With her as my girlfriend, I’ll be the most popular guy around. Maybe get on TV myself,” the ox boy said.

“I don’t think that’s a very nice thing to say. At least learn Florian’s name,” said another classmate.

“You got a problem with that?” the two lackey boys asked. Their hyena and crow spirits mocked the others.

“Sorry, she isn’t feeling well. We are going to have to ask you to leave,” Alex said.

“Who are you? Her boyfriend? Well, I wasn’t talking to you,” the ox boy said. He high-fived his two lackeys, but the girl behind them left them hanging.

“I’m not her boyfriend. She isn’t looking to date anyone for that matter,” Alex said. “She isn’t feeling well.”

“Yeah, leave her alone.”

“Get lost!”

“Posers.”

The entire class was in agreement.

“Why is everybody defending this chick?” the four intruders said.

“Well, I want to see for myself if she’s all that’s cracked up to be,” the ox boy said.

That was when even more first-year students entered the classroom.

“Is Florian all right?”

“What happened?”

“Who are you four?”

“Did someone say something about a party?”

The classroom was attracting too much attention. Even teachers were checking to see if Florian was all right under the guise of dispersing the crowd.

“Ah, bro. I think we’re trapped,” said the lackey with the hyena.

“What the hell is going on here?” the ox boy asked.

Even Alex’s sister Sera and a few other upperclassmen showed up.

“Flori! You were a mess! You didn’t look like your normal self on TV. Are you all right?” Sera asked. Her goldfish soul was now a large koi fish. Its fins were elegantly flowing in the air around the entire classroom. “What are these three idiots doing here?”

“Sera knows this freshman?” asked the lackey with the crow.

“Of course. You didn’t know? Flori’s special,” Sera said.

“She helped me find my lost dog when I was little,” the boar boy said.

“She helped me in middle school. She is so cool,” the girl with the snail said.

“Is it true? I heard she beat up the national junior league boxing champ,” said a classmate.

“I was there; he was an asshole and deserved it,” Samuel with his kangaroo said.

“Wait, it was true?” asked another classmate.

“Yeah, everyone that went to her middle school last year knows her name,” Sera said.

“Hell, most of us followed her here,” Alex said.

“Even teachers tried transferring to this school once Flori applied here,” Amalia said.

“Is she a superhero or something?” the ox boy asked.

“No, she’s Florian Lilly Cobblestone. She’s just doing what she has always been doing since grade school,” Alex said. His monkey stuck its tongue out at the intruders.

Everyone from Florian’s middle school told their stories of how Florian had helped them in some shape or form. Small potatoes compared to recent events. She helped teachers, classmates, and anyone else in her sight.

To Florian, she merely supported the souls in need. She thought nothing of it. Her good deeds were not going unnoticed. It caused a chain reaction of classmates assisting one another. Soon her simple, caring attitude changed an entire generation of people around her.

She was okay with it; everyone was happier and friendlier because of it. Florian could concentrate on other things too.

Like at the moment, Florian was still steaming in thought at her desk, thinking of all the events that had taken place. More importantly, she was contemplating what steps she needed to take to catch the culprit.

“Forget this. You all are weirdos!” The intruding upperclassmen ran off. The girl with the fur cluster spirit did not. She stared at Florian for a moment and sauntered off. Her fur cluster spirit gritted its teeth and glared with its deep white pupils.

“As long as we stick together, we can prevent the kidnapper from striking again.” The classroom cheered and planned a buddy system to keep eyes on one another.

“Who were those upperclassmen, sis?” Alex said.

“They are nobodies, except the girl with them. She’s a weird one. Her boyfriend disappeared and hasn’t been to school for weeks. Rumors say she looks for him around the city every day after school. Those three idiots are close friends with her boyfriend. They sure are acting tough, but they aren’t. At least they are keeping an eye on her. If the man I loved disappeared, I wouldn’t know what I would do,” Sera said.

“Gross,” Alex said.

“What was that?” Sera asked.

Alex and his monkey spirit retreated behind Florian.

“This sounds interesting,” Amalia said. “Maybe Flori can look into it when she’s feeling better?”

“All right! As long as we have Flori’s back, nothing can stop us!” Alex said.

Over the intercom, an announcement was made. “-orian Cobblestone, please come to the principal’s office. Again, Florian Cobblestone, please come to the principal’s office.”

The classroom morale fell. All the souls looked at Florian. “Be careful, Flori.” That was what she took from their worrisome expressions. She had an ominous feeling in her head, almost like a lump of air trying to escape her gut.

🙠🙢

When Florian approached the office, the principal met her there.

“Florian Cobblestone. Someone is here to see you,” the principal said, wiping his sweat.

Florian didn’t see anyone she recognized until a limousine pulled up in front of the school doors.