The ringing in his ears as Norbert heard Count von Count's voice screaming at him. Thinking about what the vampire could be talking about, the words playing in his mind, “How long has it been?” Norbert asked him.
“Well, do you want to know?” Count von Count asked him.
“If I didn’t want to know, then would I ask the question in the first place?” Norbert questioned the vampire back sternly. Shaking his head in annoyance as he walked around the doorway, entering the white room.
“Two weeks.” Count von Count said to him.
Norbert paused his stride as he stared at the wall, not believing what he had just heard. “What do you mean, two weeks!” Norbert shouted, Obsius and the fox staring at him from his sudden outburst.
Norbert dismissed them instantly. “But how is that possible?” Norbert asked Count von Count.
“Well, let me look over the details”, Count von Count said. “You became awol for three days at the start, half a day to complete the maze, then didn’t see you for two more days, then trapped in the second trial for, outside time …” Count von Count drifted off, as he stopped reciting what was in front of him.
“Sheesh, I knew he was bad, but seven days is ridiculous.” Count von Count said, Norbert believing that he was talking to someone else, “Ok, so seven days there, and that means two days where you are now. I hope you learned a lot in those seven days.” Count von Count ended; the longer he talked, the more sarcasm dripped from his lips.
“So, how do I get out?” Norbert asked him.
Heard no response Norbert tapped his foot on the floor, trying and failing to wait patiently. Knowing that the vampire was messing around with him, Norbert continued to say nothing, waiting for Count von Count to speak first.
***
“Ok, that’s enough of that; just go to the other side of the hall; there should be a doorway to teleport over there.” Count von Count said to him.
Norbert, thankful, breathed a sigh of relief, having counted to over a thousand before the vampire even said anything.
Turning to his new companion, Norbert looked at it, then to the hall they just escaped from. “Need to go to the other side,” Norbert said as he pointed across the hall.
Receiving the faintest nod, the fox darted towards Norbert before crawling up his legs and back until it rested on his right shoulder.
Norbert looked at the fox as it swished its tail lazily around. Obsius landed on Norbert’s left shoulder as she looked at the fox, its tail swishing around the bird. Turning around, dismissing it as much as she could, Norbert started his journey, walking over the ash-ridden ground.
Each step sent plumes of ash coming up, changing his vision tonight so he could see, feeling the ash squelch between his steps as he continued walking down the hall in silence.
That was until Obsius started whistling. Grinning, now that they had an audience of one, Norbert joined in as well, making the harmony wholly wrong and out of tune. Turning his head to the right, he saw the fox bury its face inside itself, ears pointed forward as it tried to lessen the music she could hear.
***
Norbert looked at the other side, seeing only the doorway there leading to nothing, only solid rock on that side, indented a finger length in and pressing his finger in the indent, confirming nothing’s happening, Norbert thinks about Count von Count.
“Can you hear me? Is this how it works?” Norbert shouted as loud as he could as he asked the question.
Obsius stopped whistling, surprised at the loud noise that Norbert made. The fox's fur stood on end for a second, its head whipping out of itself as it looked around, before slowly resting its head back in since nothing was found.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“No need to shout.” Count von Count said mentally to Norbert.
“Portal, not working.” Norbert slowly sternly replied to the vampire, hoping that it wouldn’t be another one of the games the two of them would be forced to play.
“Oh, give me a second.” Count von Count said. The vampire grew distant as Norbert was sure he heard some banging in the background and some distant shouting.
Before him, Norbert saw the portal open, the same blue gate swirling in front of him. As he stared at it, he reminded himself of the barrier from before. He stepped through, feeling himself elongate as his leg was brought directly upwards, and the rest of his body followed.
Stepping out the other side, the portal snapped shut behind him. Norbert looked around, wondering where Count von Count had sent him. As he looked around the familiar room, he saw the round table with the chairs, three occupied once more.
The others are sitting like they never moved since he last saw them. Sally and Lily stopped their chat as they turned around, giving Norbert a look before smiling, turning around to the table again and continuing chatting to each other about whatever.
SLURP
Looking to the other member sitting at the table, Count von Count stared down his glass as he slurped as loud as humanly possible, trying to get who knows what out of it. Slamming the cup down on the table, the vampire turned to Norbert, giving a wave.
“When did you get back, I didn’t see you there.” The vampire said, grinning at Norbert. His eyes went to his face, looking at this clothes or more precisely, the lack of clothes.
“What happened to you? Looks like you’ve been mugged five times over, and on the sixth time, they were unhappy that you had nothing left.” Count von Count said.
Norbert trudged forward, his feet sticking to the stone ground as he felt the coolness coming over. Changing his vision to normal again, happy that he could adequately see once more, no longer needing to run in the half-light.
Sitting at the table, Norbert leaned back in his chair, placing a foot on the table. The ash from it falling onto the table, Norbert snorted in annoyance before taking his foot off, letting the chair slam on the ground.
Removing his sack, Norbert dumped it on the table, the contents spilling out. Obsius and the fox jumped onto the table as well, looking at the items there.
He took his helmet off and placed it on his sack as he felt the air on his skin. Ruffling his hand through his hair, getting it off his scalp after the extended time he had it on.
Taking the spare cup from the table and filling it up from the jug, Norbert leaned back in his chair as he sipped, staring up at the ceiling.
Having another sip, Norbert looked around, seeing that the others were staring at the fox on the table, then back to him.
“What?” Norbert asked them.
“Where did you find that?” Sally asked him, pointing towards the fox sitting on the table, sleeping once more.
Norbert pointed at the white fox, receiving a nod of confirmation in return. “Well, picked it up in the last room,” Norbert said in response.
“Then how is it here?” Lily asked him, leaning forward as she carefully moved her hand out, wanting to pat the creature and finally touching the fox, not responding at all as she smiled, rubbing her hand over the fox's head.
“Busted a hole in the wall near the entrance and had it jump through,” Norbert said, shrugging his shoulders at the simple explanation.
“Like she said, how?” Sally asked him before continuing, “You weren’t that strong before to crack these mountains.” She said as she tapped her foot on the floor.
Smiling as he tapped the side of his nose. Count von Count snickered at Norbert's response. Norbert waved his hand dismissively as he smiled. “I’ll show you later, not here and need to recover my energy.” Norbert said.
“Energy?” Sally said, staring at him.
Norbert sent his purple energy towards his fist, preparing to release it, watching as his veins turned a dark purple on his hand. “The purple energy,” Norbert explained to her.
Sally shook her head. “That isn’t energy; that’s just mana. Its type, I’m assuming by our earlier conversations, permanently altered, stopping you from using spells.” She said, holding her cup up in a toast. “But now you can do something extra, so that’s at least one thing running for you in the tournament.”
Norbert stared blankly, having forgotten about the tournament. “How much longer do I have left?” Norbert asked the table.
Lily, still playing with the fox as Norbert started to hear it purr now content, “Six days.” She said.
Norbert nodded. “Does that give you enough time to repair all of this and go back to Alasium to repair and get some more clothes?” Norbert asked, looking down at him.
“Can’t leave the mountain until the tournament starts, but you can always ask someone to shop for you.” Count von Count said, smiling at him.
Norbert shook his head, “Lily, can you pick up the items I left there and repair the helm.” He asked.
Lily looked to Sally, who looked at return, and with a sigh, Lily nodded in response.
“Then what am I going to do?” Count von Count asked him.
“Well, you can always retrieve the blood crystal.” Norbert said nonchalantly as he remembered the alter with it shinning red in the room.
Count von Count, part way bringing his cup to take a drink, dropping it, the contents spilling across the floor.
The three people in the room, as one, all stood up, leaning on the table as they looked at Norbert for an explanation. “What?”