Can one ever be lonely?

For that matter, can two?

How can what is, need what never was?

But this single, amidst many.

This one…

This lone…

Knew what it was to be lonely,

for they knew what it is to be lone.

Watching…

Lone thinks and feels,

as does not the wind?

The ocean?

The moon?

Are they not complete?

For to be lone, means to never need more.

The sufficiency to remove the alone.

Competence to overpower the lonely.

For so filled with passion, they are (a)Lone(ly)

Though, this one aLone…

can they truly be blinded to the paradox?

Overwhelming confidence,

has it led the a, to be left with the ly?

How can that ever even be?

‘Lone’ can stand, and ‘a’ can exist,

though ‘ly’, solitaire, it simply is not.

Wind, ocean, and moon,

glorious in their solitude.

Does not the moon affect the tide?

Does the ebb and flow, not affect the wind?

No currents, water, or air…

The moon… would it still be there?

Would one exist to be alone?

Waiting…

This Lone.

Was truly lonely.

Was desperately, painfully, alone.

Could complete not be whole?

Blasphemy!

Insolence!

Deception!

Not the fool, the Lone did know.

The lone could feel the ‘a’.

The Lone knew of the ‘ly’.

This one knew that they were Alone.

That they were Lonely.

And these feelings were things One did not need.

So she tried to cast them away.

~ The One Who Did Not Need

~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard

* * *

She was bored.

How long were those fucks going to stay in that shithole? They had been sitting here waiting forever! Since the half-elf and the others arrived last night, no one had left except that cop, but who cared about that douchebag? Their orders (for now) were to keep an eye on the half-blood bitch-elf and the oldest teenage boy. The skinny fuckwad that got his ass kicked in like point two seconds by that lycanthropeire.

GAWD! Why did her aunt care so much? This was dumb… Watch. Sitting here FUCKING WATCHING! Seriously? With her prowess? She never got to do anything worthy of her skills. Ever. She wanted to get to show off for once while on Earth. Her abilities were completely wasted as a sex demon! Anyone could get laid in this cesspool of a world, didn’t exactly need to specialize in it. Her passion and prowess lie in combat. Iiyni’jeari’eea could fight like no other imp. In fact, she was one of the most powerful demons in the Earth realm of Hell. Possibly in all of Hell.

“This is so fucking boring,” she complained in her tiny, overly childish voice, from where she sat in a tree on the hillside, quite a ways from the door in the cliffside. 'Great,' Jen’taa’yi - one of the other two imps in the tree- thought. 'Every time sister gets bored, things always get derailed.' It was true. Her older (yet shorter) sister was a chaotic hazard when she got bored.

A branch burst into flames as the third and youngest sister started to speak, and Iiyni’jeari’eea kicked her in the face. “Speak English, you stupid bitch,” the bored older sister instructed, voice not in the least intimidating. “I’m sorry, Nini,” Ki’yi’xyit apologized.

Iiyni’jeari’eea winced at the use of ‘Nini’. She loathed cutesy sounding nicknames, but her little sister had all the intelligence of a thumbtack, so she let it slide. She did frequently shorten Ki’yi’xyit’s own name to an affectionate, if not condescending, ‘Zit’. “I know this is your first time soil-side,” Iiyni’jeari’eea said calmly, “but if you speak Hell tongues, shit’s gonna go sideways. Things start bursting into flames and melting, it kinda causes a scene. Chaos has a time and a place, and that time and place needs to not be a fucking accident.”

Little, adorable Zit, was not so content to be quiet. She frowned, puffing out her cheeks, like a cute, demonic chipmunk, “Are we gonna get to even fuck anyone?” Jenta -Jen’taa’yi- finally had to reply to her brain-dead sister, “You know it's not that kind of mission. And I’ve told you a million times, we are imps. You can’t taste or feel pleasure. Sex, food, doesn't matter.” It was true. The life of an imp sucked. Sometimes literally.

“And we look like human children,” Nini added, not taking her eyes from the church door. “True, sexy, little Asian children, but that look ain't as popular as you'd think." Find a man, get him to screw ya a few times till you get a nice dose of soul venom in him, then leave. He later goes mad, and either dies, or becomes some child raping, serial killing, overall evil, ‘The devil made me do it’ psychopath. That was her sole purpose for existing: seducing men to poison their soles. Boring. As. Fuck.

She never preyed on pedos, instead focusing on those with tastes as far from little girls as possible. Had to add some challenge.

This current soil-side mission was at least different, if not a bit retarded. It also wasn’t some small, two-bit demon strike. This little undertaking was so against the rules, success or failure, it would go down in the history books. Iiyni’jeari’eea wasn’t afraid of dying. Fat fucking chance of that happening, so why fear? If need be, she would just flee, and leave the others (except her sisters) to die and burn.

Point was, she wasn’t gonna spend her time babysitting some faggot elf, and a fucking teenage toothpick! So when the black-clad, pathetic excuse for a vampire exited the church? Heh. That’s when she decided to spice up this boring downtime. One way or another, shit was gonna be fun, even if she had to piss off Auntie Xal to achieve it.

The vampire was obviously trying to catch a scent. Not theirs, as the imps were far too hidden for his weak ass to sense in any way. They were almost on top of him during his fight with the lycanthropeire yesterday, and he never noticed. The black-clad vampire zipped away, going the opposite direction of the lycanthropeire, Iiyni'jeari'eea had assumed he was trying to detect. Was he seriously so weak to not notice the faint sent in the air? Fucking loser.

Maybe he was the one that had caused the problems? Because, in all honesty, they hadn't even known he was here until yesterday. He may be pathetic and weak, yet his ability to stay concealed? Nini wasn’t too proud to admit when she was impressed. And it just made her want to kill him more. Out of respect for his pathetic ass, of course. Though, before she killed him, Iiyni had to find out- No. She didn't need to know, and it didn't fucking matter. Why should she care if some barely-a-demon found a way to be saved? Was probably because vampires began as human, and this one a thrall. One of those loopholes God loved to use.

Iiyni’jeari’eea suppressed that infuriating empty ache in her chest, instead grinning wickedly, “Jenta, follow him. If you get the chance to let him stumble across a ritual site or two, do it. I’m curious if he was the one that's been messing with them. And find out who he is. Call in some favors if ya have to. Just don't let auntie know; not yet.” Jenta knew better than to argue. There was zero chance auntie didn't know there was one of her's running around with the Mark. Then again, if she did know, why was she letting him, well, run around? With a nod she was gone, and following Masque.

“Zit, just stay here. Even if they come out, don’t follow, murder anyone, or start any cocksucking. Capiche?” Zit frowned, but nodded her acceptance. The older sister resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks. Zit was adorable, even for an imp.

Without giving a donkey dong about her orders, Iiyni'jeari'eea bounded away after the stinky bitch puppy, who was hiding in the woods, healing its wounds. At least the smell wasn't as bad as that self-titled zombie king. Just because she was an imp, and smells affected her differently (no taste, no pleasure, equals smells being more like raw data than a sensation), didn’t mean she wanted to smell rotten scrotum all day!

It didn’t take the small demon much time to clear the distance deep into the forest, arriving in a tiny grove, where the lycanthropeire lie on its side, tongue lolled out, sleeping deeply. The imp rolled her eyes at the slumbering, stinky mound. Looked like it was almost healed, and would soon fully regain its size.

'Ugh, why couldn’t it have been something cute like a squid?' She guessed a squid would be a bit useless in the woods, huh? But still!

“Sup, bitch,” the imp announced matter-of-fact, crooked grin, hands on hips. The beast flew to its feet in surprise. Even more was the surprise to see another child before it! The lycanthropeire didn’t take the time to size up the situation, or she would have realized this wasn’t a child.

Snapping and lunging at the Asian in the black bikini-looking outfit, hair pulled into a tight braid; she wasn’t going to let it escape like the others! At least that infuriating blonde bitch died screaming, even if she had gotten away. No human could live through that. And the way she died, was almost better than Belle’anne eating her herself.

With an eye roll and dropping her grin, Iiyni’jeari’eea casually stepped to the side and jumped, kicking the beast in the shoulder – sending her tumbling and rolling into a nearby cliff-side; impact crushing in stone and dirt.

“Is that any way to treat your new master?” the terrifying creature asked, looking into the lycanthropeire’s eyes. Belle’anne Haileyandra Lacuice was not just any lycanthropeire! None should be able to stand before her! NONE! Just what was with these infuriating super children since her release?! Some form of karmic justice?!

The imp watched the beast thrash around in what appeared to be fury. Was the stupid bitch still going to fight her? Iiyni’jeari’eea had to admit, she was a little impressed. “Guess I haven’t done enough damage to make you my pet yet,” was the casual statement. Iiyni’jeari’eea was gaining more interest in the mutt. Maybe she was more powerful than she had thought?

Hearing her words, Belle’anne was pissed. She was no one’s fucking PET! Leaping, Belle’anne closed the distance, and was on top of the- Oh shit. It was too late to stop her lunge. Too late to run as far as she could. Why hadn’t the inhuman strength registered as inhuman? Why hadn’t she noticed the skimpy pointless outfit for what it was? Why hadn’t she noticed those shark-like teeth in this imp's mouth?!

Iiyni’jeari’eea stopped the beast’s momentum with one hand, catching it by a tooth. Fingers puncturing into it, with a tug and spin, the imp ripped out the beast’s fang, and embedded it into the same shoulder she had kicked, before grabbing the lycanthropeire’s leg, intending to throw the beast. Accidentally using too much yank, and not enough pull, the creature’s entire leg was ripped off. This time, the beast wailed.

Covered in boiling blood, the imp didn’t look happy. “You see what you made me do?” she accentuated with a shake of the beast’s leg, most of it dragging on the ground, as it was much longer than the imp was tall. “Now I gotta put you back together before I can make you stronger.” Belle’anne whimpered all the louder, struggling to gain her footing. “Bad… bad… bad…” The imp walked closer, slowly shaking her head.

Belle’anne finally got her balance, but it was too late! She couldn't control herself, and looked into the imps gaze; immediately feeling a horrible sensation like worms crawling from the imps eyes into her own. The all-encompassing nausea in her brain, as the imp forced her will on the lesser demon. “...baaaaaaad doggy.” The imp stopped walking, cruel, crooked grin on her face, and the lycanthropeire, completely dominated, submit to her new master.

* * *

Feldyn was tired of waiting for these children to awaken. They had been sleeping for almost an entire day now! He stopped at Caleb’s room first. Feldyn was not exactly relishing the thought of telling Ally what he had to tell her, so this room seemed like a good first choice! Knocking loudly, he opened the door and wasn’t surprised that it was unlocked.

“Time to awaken! We have an important day, and you two-” Feldyn was still holding the doorknob as he saw Pazely; seeming quite nude, asleep on her back, blanket barely covering, well, anything. Caleb sat up quickly at the sound of a voice. “Well, aren’t we naughty,” Feldyn teased, and hit the light switch by the door. “What the fuck?” Caleb snapped angrily, as he pulled the blanket off the foot of the bed and threw it over Pazely. At least Caleb was wearing sweats.

Looking at the now exposed foot of the bed, Feldyn’s eyes grew wide. “What the fuck, indeed.” At the foot of the bed, was a naked, stretching, Gigi. She had woke from the blanket being yanked off her. After a good stretch, she sat up. Geeg had one eye closed, hair puffing wildly about her head. “Turn off the lights…” Gigi mumbled, batting a hand Feldyn’s way. “What the hell, Gigi?!” Caleb exclaimed. His voice had more horror to it than Feldyn would have expected. Guilty conscious?

“What… the hell, Gigi?” Caleb asked again, this time his voice had changed. Gigi had stood up, and had arms high above her head in another big stretch. One eye still open, she didn't know why Caleb was looking at her funny. “Your… abs…” Caleb told her, and the little girl looked at her belly. Feldyn had also just noticed. “That’s not mine…” Geeg mumbled at the defined abdominal muscles she was sporting. Anyone in the dance or gymnastics world know there are a lot of little girls with some insane abs. Yet they don’t exactly appear overnight! Pazely and Ally didn’t even have abs like that!

Pazely finally woke up, and rubbed her eyes with her fists, before opening them to see a naked Gigi standing over, and screeched bloody murder. She gave a second screech when she noticed Feldyn in the doorway, and the blanket that was covering her quite poorly. “GET OUT!” Pazely screamed so loud that her face changed color. Feldyn had enough common sense to flee. As soon as the door closed, Paze quit screaming, though Caleb did feel like she was about to shoot steam out of her ears…

“Why… do you have teeth?” Caleb thought Pazely's question directing at him, before noticing she was looking at Gigi. “Wow!” the little fluffball exclaimed, as she inspected her mouth, finding she had a full set of teeth almost grown in. “Did Reba cause all... this?” Caleb asked to no one in particular.

She was turning around now and looking at herself all over, seeming equally as confused. Still the same height, yet her body no longer had that dis-proportioned look of a child younger than she was. The shock wearing off a bit, Caleb didn't think he would be comfortable with her being naked anymore...

Gigi jumped from the bed and ran out the door, squealing in joy. “Where is she going?” Pazely asked, voice groggy. She wasn’t even quite sure where she was. Trying not to think too hard about it, she got out of bed. First, a mutant naked Gigi was standing there when she opened her eyes, then that creepy Feldyn was in the doorway! Yurk! 'Where are my clothes?' Looking around, still in a brain fog from waking to such creepiness, it dawned on her she was naked. Paze turned slowly to see Caleb grinning at her, and because no one ever locks anything, the door swung open; Gigi running back in, Ally in tow.

Gigi was now wearing (That was fast...) blue booty shorts and a black tank top. Ally's herself was in hip-hugger jeans, and a white short-sleeved shirt that had tiny frills on the shoulders and a big pink heart on the front. Her hair was in a high ponytail and she wore no accessories save for a delicate bracelet watch. Pazely’s naked butt dove to hide behind Caleb. “Jeez, I bring you clothes, and I don’t even get a show?” Ally threw the clothes and hair barrettes she was holding, over Caleb’s head.

“You were already up?” Caleb asked, as he tried not to think of the fact that Pazely was naked behind him, getting dressed. “Yeah. Heard Feldyn knock on your door, then banshee girl started screaming shortly after. Assumed it was the naked thing, so got her clothes. Gigi's too, since I figured she would come out of her room hearing Pazely screaming. Of course she wasn't in her room.

"Anything to say about why my baby cousin came running out of your room with no clothes on?” Ally sounded like she was actually suspicious. Pazely smacked him in the back of the head with a, “Yeah? That was nasty to wake up to!” Ally rose her eyebrows. Just what nasty thing did she wake up to? Caleb chose to ignore them both. Gigi herself didn't appear interested in the topic, now trying to get to Pazely on the bed, inciting a lot of screeches.

Ally wasn't actually suspecting Caleb of anything. If she could, why would she be around him? She knew it was Geeg being Geeg. She loved Caleb, and had a bit of an infatuation with Pazely, always going out of her way to be near the girl. Give Gigi a choice, and she would end up with Caleb or Pazely. If the two were together, you can guarantee she would find a way to be with them. The way her and Jessie would-

“Any idea what’s going on? Are we staying longer?” Caleb asked, interrupting Ally's unfortunate train of thought. It also derailed her emotions towards irritation. She hated that he always expected her to have the answer to everything. Maybe, for a change, he could have some freaking answers! “No idea,” she answered pleasantly. The toils of womanhood!

Thought we were gone, muthfuckAAAAAH?!

So sorry, I am doing my best to keep him back!

Caleb started at the sudden voices. Dammit fucking dammit! He really (never)(eventually!) thought that (poodle, puddle, strudel! TURD!) they were (Praying always helps, Caleb…) go(BITE THAT BITCH’S TITS OFF!)ne. Okay, that made him almost vomit. Felt like he was spinning violently as he had thought that. Because they were his thoughts after all, right? Crazy just made you think it was something. At least he wasn't hallucinating. Yet.

Not looking amused as Caleb shivered, then froze stiff, “Just what are those two doing back there?” Ally asked in an accusatory tone. Pazely wasn't even screaming anymore...

On queue, Gigi, and a dressed Pazely, moved from behind Caleb. “We need to huuuurrrrry!” Gigi urged, bouncing and hopping over to her cousin. Pazely was wearing black leggings under a pair of cut offs, and a deep purple spaghetti-string tank top, that was super short and loose, the orange sports bra under it easy to catch glimpses of. She had also managed to bind her hair back in twintails with the flower barrettes.

“Who the hell picked out these clothes?” Pazely looked about to cry. It was sorta cute. “I’m going!” Gigi informed them, and left the room so fast that no one could have replied if they wanted to. “Um,” Ally started, distracted by it all, “Stryker. He got them for us yesterday, but we all passed out before he could give them to us. In other words, he forgot.” Pazely sighed. “Figures,” she mumbled, and frowned at her shorts and leggings.

“What time is it?” Caleb asked, and Ally turned a smile his way. “Oh, he returns to us,” she smirked. “Sorry, my head is all kinds of messed up since the other day” Caleb was being more literal than they knew, as he looked for his shirt.

He had been all types of messed up longer than that, both the girls thought, neither knowing about the voices.

Looking at her small watch she wore often, “Jeez, it’s like noon,” Ally said. She loved this tiny bracelet watch Caleb had bought her when they were little! At least Stryker knew enough to grab it. She wondered if Caleb ever noticed she wore it? She wondered if he cared? Of course he must! Caleb thanked her, and shirt now on, led the way out of the room, not quite sure where they were going. He hadn’t thought twice about the watch. In fact, he didn’t even remember he had bought it for her. It had been so random, and at a yard sale; it never really stuck in his memory.

Not talking about much, the three arrived in the meeting hall, and were greeted by Feldyn and Gigi. “Where is everyone?” Caleb asked. “Masque is still resting. I fear he may have overexerted himself,” Feldyn answered. “Stryker is taking care of some business in town, while Reba, John, and Bryan, grew tired of waiting.” Almost skipping from the room, past the three teens, “Follow me, I’ll explain on the way!” Feldyn said enthusiastically in that singsong voice of his. “Yeah!” Gigi encouraged, as she tried to mimic Feldyn’s walk. The other three gave a collective sigh, but didn’t dally in following.

Feldyn, explaining absolutely nothing, kept a fast pace. After many turns, and down a flight of stairs, they stood before a door. "Any questions?” Feldyn asked with a smile, as he took the doorknob, then quickly opened it, dodging inside as Pazely lunged at him.

The room was pretty big, about the size of the largest at the studio. There were practice mats strewn about the hardwood floor, and the far wall from the door was covered in mirrors, the one opposite, they saw in the mirror, held weapons. There were displays off to the sides too, and stands with armor litters about.

Swords, spears, knives, axes, guns; hell, even grenades and land mines! Other than the weapons, were shelves holding bottles, books, sciency looking gear, towels, medical supplies, all kinds of stuff! As for the armor, Caleb saw everything from full plate mail, to military -looking- grade body armor.

Pazely ran over to examine the handguns. John looked more than tense, from where he stood with Bryan near the center of the room. “I’ve told you, they know what they are doing,” Reba scolded him. She swore no one ever listened to her! Stryker insisted on making sure the kids could shoot, and Reba knew they often went out to the woods with him to practice. He said it was dangerous to be outdoors and not know how to handle a gun. Reba figured he just enjoyed teaching them.

“I’m hungry!” Gigi announced. The little blonde was the only one didn't have any interest in the unbelievable armory around her. “Sometimes in real life, you do not get the chance to eat. Guess you should have woke sooner, aye?” Feldyn’s voice was kind, though his singsong tone seemed laced with a bitter note. A bitterness directed inwardly from what he was about to do.

Aye, better to get this over with. “In fact, Gigi, ye and Ally do not even need to be here at all. For neither of ye shall be stayin'." He really blundered that little revelation, didn’t he? Seduction of a crowd before him, through lyric, music, or even a smile, was an easy thing. Yet, the simple manipulation and lies he needed to do as of late, were of the hardest actions he could imagine.

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Just why did he bloody care so much for these kids? He had to harden his heart! Had to see them as expendable! Even so, Feldyn was honestly trying to keep them from being expended! Was he not already doing more than his duty called for?

A memory he wished he didn’t have flashed in his mind. A memory of rage. A memory of blood… on his hands… on the ground… on his sister’s innocent face…

The blonde teenager, who had been looking at some knives, turned her pretty blue eyes to look at Feldyn. “And where exactly are we going?” Ally asked. Her voice held a playful note. Feldyn shook off the hideous memory. Just when she may have been starting to like me… “Stryker is going to take you and Gigi home. Then you are leaving with your aunt and uncle.” The kids all turned with a shocked expression. “To another state. Minna-something, I believe it was called.”

With a disbelieving smirk, “Minnesota?” Ally asked. Gigi’s family owned land with a big old house in Minnesota. More than large enough for Ally and her cousins. All of which were from her mom’s side. She couldn’t even think of one relation of her father’s, or uncle's. Which was weird. Just her mom’s two sisters. They didn’t even have grandparents. She just assumed there was some massive family drama, since the adults refused to speak of it. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere. Especially not to Minnesota,” she laughed.

The others were silent. Feldyn looked her in the eyes, “I’m sorry, Ally. This is for the best, I promise.” Feldyn looked… sad? Ally hardly cared. Just who the hell did he think he was? Nothing was going to make her leave now! Not now, as her life was finally getting some meaning!

“Fuck you, you fairy bitch!” Ally hissed with pure defiance. “After all of this, I’m not leaving.” The chill in the room was deep. Whatever Ally said or did here, Reba would not lecture or admonish her. For if it was her being told this, she would have murdered the fucker. “Ally, when you opened the door in the woods, what did you feel?” was the direct and sudden question Feldyn aimed at the teen. Her faced twisted in confusion. “What are you talking about now?” she asked, on the verge of throwing the knife she was holding at his face.

“Think, Ally. When you touched that doorknob, even before, what did you feel?” Feldyn’s words were emotionless, direct, and leading. Leading her straight to that moment… The rain falling on her skin… The ripping feeling in her chest… The… power. The raw lust, and desire.

The bard noticed her expression change as she remembered. “Yes. That is why. I saw your eyes when you felt the power of that seal. I have seen it before. You are extremely mana sensitive.” Feldyn’s voice was softer. The way one spoke to a child. “On Aethra, you would have academies and colleges vying for you to take a seat in their schools. Here on Earth, you can never know such. And if we are around more mana, Ally, I have no way to keep you under control. The urge for you to be in tune with it would be too great. I cannot even teach you to wield it on this world!”

Did he think saying that would break her resolve? If he did, he was more foolish than she thought. Talking about the things of her dreams only strengthened her resolve. Ally accepted her faults when she became aware of them. Then she fought, and struggled, and fixed herself. She didn’t run and hide from her weaknesses. She defeated them! And besides, what did he mean about being around more mana? What did he know?

Before she could voice another thought, John stepped forward, clearing his throat loudly. “Allow me to explain our current situation. There are prophecies that seem to be speaking of an event here on Earth, involving the Dragonheart.” Reba sigh-groaned at John's words. He ignored her. “When Masque was out yesterday, he sensed someone, or something, following. In an attempt to get them to reveal themselves, he discovered... ritual sites. It may have been luck, but Masque did not want to rule out being intentionally led to them.

“There was not one or two sites, but many, circling the town. Not of the magical variety, but of witchcraft," he went on, unsure why he was explaining this to them. What did it matter, in this instance? "Witchcraft is very real, and triggers no storms, for it channels demonic energies, not mana. Witchcraft is far less dangerous than traditional magic, especially without it being infused with mana. It is still dangerous, mind you, just more manageable.

“The prophecy that has us concerned, speaks of three earthly terrors: the queen of the witches, the king of the zombies, and the queen of the vampires,” John continued. “These three, well, they are going to cause some problems. We do not know what their plan is, just that if they succeed it would be catastrophic.” That was a partial lie. They did know what their plan was. However, John, similar to Feldyn, had no intention of keeping these children in the path of what was coming. At least, not the girls.

Caleb was -possibly- the Dragonheart, he had a duty. Even if the bard was wrong, the boy was more than old enough to fight. Bryan could decide for himself, for prophecy or no, he too was old enough to be a soldier. The girls could perhaps be of prophecy themselves; right now, they were children, and girls. He would not sacrifice them on a hunch; sexist or not, John did not care. If given no choice, any and all should fight. If given the choice, it should fall first to men, young men, before the rest.

Reba didn’t bother to point out his withholding of the enemies’ supposed endgame. It wasn’t real anyway, as far as she was concerned, so why bother arguing any of it? Just the odds of them all so randomly happening to be in the same place, at exactly the same time, as these supposed Terrors? It was astronomically stupid! It wouldn’t even be believable in fiction! There was coincidence, then there was bullshit. And Reba was not calling coincidence.

They were not even sure what the damn ritual sites were for, only that they were top tier witchcraft, with signs of alchemic science mixed in! She was sure that her dad was being a drama queen, and believing what he wanted because of Feldyn showing up and spouting his Aethra nonsense. Caleb? A mythical hero? A mythical dumbass maybe. As for Aethra, that was possible, and portals were real. Supposedly. If you believed the 'real' history of the world. which she, more or less, did.

Still… something weird was going on. And it was probably going to get deadly. Reba knew the signs of disaster and tragedy, and right now they were numerous. The storms? Seals being broken? Ritual sites? Something bad bad was going to happen. She just wasn’t foolish enough to think it had to do with comic book caliber villains. Nor was she paranoid enough to think that her nightmare of a creator was one of them.

“So,” Ally said, setting the knife back in its place on the wall, “a bunch of once in a lifetime events are about to happen, and all my friends may die. And I have to leave?”

“Please understand, Ally,” Feldyn pleaded. “Caleb is the Dragonheart, therefore he must stay. Stryker is one of your city guards, so staying and fighting is his duty. Bryan is a male, fighting is also his duty. Reba and John are both warriors already. And where Pazely is concerned, I assure you, she will not be involved."

“But I beat the monster!” Gigi interrupted. She had been staring at the floor this entire time, and now looked up to Feldyn’s disagreeing headshake. “Masque defeated it,” he informed the girl. Tears began to stream from her confused eyes. “No, Gigi did! Masque helped!” Her lip was quivering violently now, and she held out a shaking palm, several quarters residing in it. “See! Gigi got the loot for it!” She looked around to all the big people in the room, to all of their eyes.

Why were they looking at her so sadly? Like she was stupid? They were the ones that were stupid for not understanding! She could kill them if she wanted to! Cut their throats open while they slept! But she didn't, cuz she was a good guy, and Jesus said killing is bad unless it's a war. And they were her friends! You don't hurt your friends, even if you really want to when they piss you off!

“Yes you did, Gigi. And they are both staying,” Caleb smiled and informed Feldyn, as Gigi’s eyes came to rest on his. How dare this guy just show up and start ordering them around! These were his friends, his girls. Not this damn elf, or half-elf, or whatever!

Gigi burst into sobs that surprised her. There was a strong weird feeling when Caleb cared. It hurt, and made her.. sad and... happy?

Before Feldyn could reply, Caleb stepped towards him, “No. They stay. You cannot force me to do what you want, and if you try, I promise it will not go good for you. Ally stays. Gigi stays. And don’t you dare try to take her credit from her!” Caleb was furious, and the gaze he looked deeply into Feldyn’s eyes with… frightened the half-elf.

“Yeah! Gigi is staying! And fighting!” Despite her words, Gigi was having doubts. Didn’t she save them? Had all that pain been for no reason? She could still feel it… Not really, but in her head. Like, remembering the burning. The cold feeling of doom in her chest. She never wanted to feel that again. But they were heroes, right? They would beat the bad guys, right?

Jessie. Jessie didn't beat the bad guys. Jessie was dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. And it was her fault. 'It wasn't my fault! Jessie did it on her own, it wasn't my fault brain, it wasn't my fault! She died because she was dumb, she left me because she was dumb! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!'

Without another word, Gigi turned and ran from the room, dropping her quarters. The last expression on her face was heart wrenching.

Feldyn didn’t take his eyes from Caleb the entire time. “Ally, I believe you also have funeral arrangements that your mother demands you back for. I was trying not to mention it with Gigi in the room.” Finally looking away from Caleb, his eyes fell to the teenage blonde that was facing away from him, looking at the knife display on the wall. “More like you were just waiting for an unobstructed kill shot,” she accused. He could have his way. They would leave. Heh… But she would be back, whether he liked it or not.

She was not quite sure how yet, but she was already rapidly formulating plans in her mind. Several ideas had promise, but she needed to spend more time thinking them over. Whatever she came up with, had to work, as there likely would be no second chance or backup plans.

“Fine,” Ally consented, “I’ll do my duty.” Caleb turned from Feldyn to walk towards her. “No you won’t! Ally, we will wait for you, I promise! Just sneak out, and meet us at the studio.” She appreciated his kindness (even if his eyes looked a tad psychotic at the moment), and standing up for both her and her little cousin. But... Feldyn was at least partially right. The tears Ally had shed last night were so strong she thought she would die. Poor Sally, her twin taken from her; what were her tears like? Would they not be so much more than Ally’s own? Ally went to sleep near friends, and woke near friends. Sally was alone, surrounded by adults that didn’t get it, or didn’t care, actually. Which is even worse than being alone.

Then there was Gigi. Sooner or later, things would hit her too. Ally wanted her to be out of here, and safe; preferably with Sally, so neither of them had to be alone.

“Feldyn is right, Caleb.” The strength it took her to act like nothing was wrong was more than she had expected. If she said anything else at all, she was going to break. With a reassuring smile, Ally turned and left.

The group was now in one of those awkward silences where no one knew what to say or do next. Caleb was having more problems than any of them, as his mind had been screaming at him to kill Feldyn, while performing vulgar acts on him, the entire time. At least the other voice in his head had kept itself in a normal, none-deafening decibel range as it advised him why murdering someone wasn’t a good idea, which occasionally quoting scripture. Which Caleb had no idea the accuracy of, as he was never good at memorizing...

“We should begin,” Feldyn took up a stance in the center of the room. No better way to break an awkward silence than with some good old sanctioned violence! “Well then? Let’s see if we can keep from dying, and furthering the suffering of those two.” They looked angry. Good. Maybe they wouldn’t hold back. They had to hate him by now. He didn’t care. It didn’t matter. One day soon, the bard would leave their life, and they will only be hating a memory.

Surprising the half-elf, Bryan walked over to stand in front of him, eyes determined and calm. “What are the rules, Miss Reba?” Bryan asked. “Drop the miss, Bryan,” Reba answered, walking over by the mirrors to sit on the floor. “You see me half-naked most days, we are complicit in God only knows how many felonies together now, and we are about to train together to fight evil.” Her voice was happy, her smile radiant. “Let’s not make things sound even sillier by including ‘miss’ on my name, okay?” She closed her eyes and tilted her head, giving an adorable forced grin.

Bryan felt a chill. They had always called her that. Her irritation was a little terrifying, however, so he would respect her wishes. He did agree after all. Things sounded more than silly. And he hated to think any of it may be real.

He had spent his entire life looking for this exact type of thing. Why didn’t he want to accept it? Why did his own new reality, feel so cheesy to him? B-movie? The others -most of them- seemed fairly good with having magic and monsters dumped on their heads. THIS WAS REAL LIFE! Those things were supposed to be fake! And they wouldn't happen like this! Jessie was dead, and no body seemed to care! Even he didn't seem to. not once, not even with that giant animal (that did not have to be supernatural to exist. It was simply a gigantic dog) trying to kill them, he had not felt those familiar pangs of panic. Nope, just a numbing dread, that felt more hollow than fear filled.

Every hypothetical question had a theory. Every theory a hypothesis. And every story had a first word and a last. Each journey starts with a single step. And Bryan’s first part of accepting all of this, would be getting to kick this infuriating half-elf in the face.

Appearing to sigh without the actual sigh, Reba gave the rules. “I used my best supplies on your injuries when you arrived. I don’t normally keep more on hand than that, as I’ve never needed so much in one day. I do still have a lot of lesser…” Reba really needed to give her concoctions proper names. Sure, she roughly had words for everything, but sometimes the words she used overlapped. Several things were tonics and elixirs, for instance. And for what she had left... it was so… dorky and unscientific. “... healing potions. Break a few bones, we should be good. But try to refrain from kill shots, please? And no chokes, or things that fuck with the airway or lungs, alright?” Pazely was not comfortable with Reba dropping the F bomb. “I am not prepared to treat severe brain damage right now either. Other than that, no rules. Below the belt is fair game. So do the world a favor, Bryan, and make sure he can’t breed.”

Taking off his glasses, Bryan laughed. Feldyn was a bit taken aback. The bloody hell did he do to deserve such an injury? Maybe he should care a bit more if they hate him after all... The females around here were a bit frightening.

John sat on a stool in the corner, directly across from the door, leaning on his staff with two hands. Could that rude, academic-looking young man even fight? The half-elf may appear unimposing, but he was a link; a bard, trained on Aethra. If Bryan wasn’t careful, this fight may be over before it start-

John’s thoughts went blank when Bryan removed his shirt, tossing it to the side.

Where he had no visible bulk with his shirt on, with it removed, his torso was muscular and toned to the point of almost being grotesque. Perhaps this fight wouldn’t end as easily as the old man had thought. He noticed a tiny self-satisfied grin from Reba. Obviously, she knew. She confidently and staunchly defended these kids’ ability to defend themselves. John began to get suspicious at just what she had been teaching them. Surely, she hadn’t been teaching her students martial arts?

Bryan liked the shocked expressions from both Feldyn and John, as he stood with his torso bare. He learned early on that if you were smart, you needed to be able to take on a field full of jocks at once, or face the consequences. Bryan was never one to just stand around and receive an ass-kicking. His body toned so naturally that it had been easy for him. And being a dancer already, training his body further seemed par for the course. Training his mind, however...

“Begin,” John instructed, and Bryan quickly took a stance, hands in fists, forearms high, head low. He began to sway and bob around. Feldyn got the tactic fast. A boxer. The way he was moving, Bryan likely didn't use his legs. Arms held straight down, fingers pointing towards the ground, Feldyn crouched in an odd stance, hoping to unsettle the boy.

The two began to circle each other. Bryan shuffled his feet to approach quickly, and then Feldyn was gone! Gust of wind, 'behind me!' Bryan shoulder-rolled, barely missing the kick from the half-elf.

Feldyn was impressed the boy dodged it. He was more impressed as Bryan came out of his roll, and jumped straight backwards off his heels, directly at him! Lifting his right arm, Bryan put his full weight behind the elbow drop. The elf was gone, unfortunately, as Bryan twisted down to the right with his elbow, spinning into a kneel, and letting himself roll again. He then made a gamble, and stood with an uppercut, all his momentum and leg strength behind it, catching Feldyn square under the chin as he rushed right into it with that inhuman speed thing he did.

No novice to taking a multitude of different blows, this one was no different, even if it had made his world turn black for a moment. Nonetheless, soon as Feldyn felt the lifting impact under his chin, he scissor-kicked hard. His bare foot caught Bryan on the inner thigh, then raked over his groin. Feldyn landed on his back. Bryan landed almost equally as hard on his knees, ending the cheers of his friends (and Reba) that had just begun.

That bastard’s kick had hit him perfectly, his entire leg felt like one giant cramp, and his groin was numb! The numbness didn’t stop his lower belly from aching and feeling like it would pop. No time to think, as Feldyn had landed flat, barely keeping his breath, rolled to the side, and was on his feet. Blood streaming from his mouth.

Bryan willed himself to stand; the half-elf, in a rush of wind, was in front of him. Feldyn hit the teen with a sweeping kick, spinning in a full circle. Bryan made a loud grunt, his head snapping to the side and body eventually following, tumbling violent and uncontrolled.

“Holy shit!” Pazely said, not sounding as mortified as Caleb figured she should. He couldn’t judge though. He had never seen anyone fight this way. Even the voices in his head were silent. How was Feldyn moving so fast? He wasn’t teleporting, but moving at impossible speeds... Could the rest of them learn to do that too? Caleb wasn’t the only one to wondering how the half elf was doing it.

Seeing Bryan overwhelmed was also shocking to Caleb and Pazely. Bryan always kicked their asses. They had never beaten him before. Caleb always swore though, that if there were no rules, and it was a real fight, that he would win. Granted, Pazely said similar, but Caleb knew that if kill shots were allowed, he would be the one walking away. Though he rather preferred the not so lonely outcomes of losing. Now, seeing his friend fight so desperately right out the gate, well… Caleb had changed his mind on who he now wanted to knock the fuck out in a fair fight. Nothing personal to Bryan. On the contrary, he respected his friend even more for managing to hold his own even this long.

Somehow, Bryan was still conscious, but knew not for long. Pushing quickly to his hands and knees, letting his face stay as retarded-looking as he felt, he planted one last bait, feigning to be more stunned than he was. Feldyn took it, and quickstepped in for another sweeping kick. He regretted still going easy on the boy, as Bryan had pushed up into a spinning, windmilling handstand. It had only one purpose, with which it succeeded grandly.

Kicking Feldyn in the fucking face.

The half-elf’s kick also landed, and his had the greater effect. Bryan’s knocked the half-elf stumbling backwards. Feldyn's own faltered kick to Bryan’s face, had knocked the teen boy totally out. Feldyn, bleeding profusely form his mouth and nose, was the winner.

“A little over the top, don’t you think?” Reba bitched, as she marched past Feldyn to the unconscious teenager. She was holding a tiny carrying case. “Maybe you should give up on the whole instructor thing.” Reba crouched down, checking to see if Bryan was even alive.

Feldyn watched as the beautiful and angry young woman checked the boy’s vitals. Bryan had almost taken him down. True, he hadn't really been trying, but still- Bryan had accepted almost instantly the reality of Feldyn’s quickstep. He didn’t flinch or shock, and reflexively went into some risky, yet powerful ‘in a pinch’ type of attacks, relying on a good bit of calculated luck. It was impressive. Novice and foolhardy, but impressive, none the less.

“I held back my blows, Reba. I did not come out unscathed, ye can see?” At least no one else seemed angry at him. Pazely looked amused, where Caleb looked ready to brawl. “Father!” Reba snapped without looking up, opening the small case she held, and taking out a hypodermic needle and syringe. “This type of training is foolish!” She filled the syringe from a tiny vial. “Let’s knock them out, then wait a while as they recover, and do it all over again! Maybe in a week, they will start to improve!” She injected Bryan in the shoulder, and turned a scowl towards Feldyn, “If we are in a hurry, maybe we can find a productive way to accomplish this.” There was no question in her voice.

Rudeness aside, the girl was right. Feldyn had intended to test them, then move on to teaching what they lacked the most, and could not accomplish. All of them, not just the kids. His hopes were to show how impossible it was to fight on the level needed, causing despair, and getting them to leave the area before the prophecy, if true, came to pass.

Caleb, being who he was, would surely improve faster and achieve what the others could not. Then Feldyn could convince him even easier to leave his friends; they would obviously not be able to keep up, and he would fear for their safety.

Feldyn gave a resigning and deep bow to the brunette. There was no way he would scare off Bryan, and if tiny Pazely could truly spar with Bryan on equal footing, no amount of physical intimidation would frighten her away either.

As he dipped low in his bow, his head spun and caused him to half swoon; falling to a knee, then stumbling to the floor.

Why did he always have to appear so bloody foolish around these people?!

Stryker and Ally walked into the room, while Reba and Pazely began to insult Feldyn. “Well, that was quick,” John said, still seated. The comment was directed at Ally. The teenager looked mildly -and rightly- offended at his words. “I ran into Stryker upstairs,” she shrugged. Ally had her ponytail bound at the side of her head now, with a purple hair scrunchy. She also had changed into a near skintight, yellow, long-sleeved V-neck, jeans replaced with a black miniskirt. The smallest one she owned, actually, and was surprised Stryker brought it. Changing clothes always made her feel like she was resetting her day, and she had needed a good reset.

“How did you change?” Pazely whined loudly from across the room. “Unfortunately, she changed in the hallway,” Stryker droned, causing Ally to spin around. Unfortunately?! Paze hadn’t meant where had she changed, she meant how had she gotten more clothes! Did Stryker need to be retarded and insulting in one sentence? Then he -obliviously- walked around her, past Pazely, and made a beeline for the gun display. 'Oh yeah, he told me he had never seen the ‘training room’' Ally thought to herself. Boys will be boys!

Reba left Bryan’s side (who had begun to rouse already) and walked over to Stryker, where he stood with jaw agape, staring at the wall of wonder before him. “Go ahead and take what you want.”

“Reba!” John snapped, aghast. “Shut up,” Reba told him, so he did. Almost every weapon had either already been here, or was looted from nearby Order stashes. Might as well put them to good use. God knew her and John were not going to use them. “In fact, everyone choose some weapons,” Reba turned to John, challenge in her eyes, “Unless you don't really believe danger is lurking at our door?”

Groaning his resignation, John waved a hand at her, “Do as you will, let everyone equip themselves.” With that, the room erupted into chaos, as every single one of them, Feldyn included, started going over things; swinging weapons, looking at armors... So fast was the mood change, John wasn’t sure if he hadn’t just skipped hours in some spurt of random senility.

Walking over to Ally, Paze looked flustered. “I know you’re a stubborn bitch,” Pazely opened with, “so you probably won’t take anything, right?” Ally nodded. A girl had to accept her own bitchy existence at times, didn’t she? “Well, here then. Don’t be stupid, okay? You can at least keep these, right?” Pazely handed her a soft, folded case, bound shut with two sturdy cords.

Taking and unbinding the cords, Ally unrolled it to display a set of silver throwing knives, shiny and delicately beautiful. Admittedly, she wasn’t much of a fighter, but she did have good accuracy with throwing things, like knives and darts. It never occurred to her to use them as actual weapons.

Ally thought of that giant dog. Somehow, throwing little pointy pieces of metal still didn’t really sound like an effective method of assault... Didn't change the fact these knives were pretty sexy.

Pazely read the expression on Ally’s face. “I thought they would get you all slutty,” Paze tried not to smile. Ally’s subtle reaction had been the best thank you she could have given. Not that she would ever let her know that, of course. And of course, Ally knew this already, so it was the only thanks she gave. “Do you want me to kill you?” were her only words. Both girls were now smiling. Ally was praying she didn’t start to cry again.

Making his way over to the law enforcement officer, Feldyn set a sheathed rapier on the counter near Stryker’s pile of guns. “Think you can carry all of that?” he grinned to the spaced-out looking cop. “Nah,” Stryker answered, surprising Feldyn he was paying attention. “But I figured I would ask Reba what some of them were before deciding what to take. Assuming they aren't what they appear to be, and all.” He then flushed a bit, realizing he was going to ask a teenage dance instructor about weapons. Though she wasn’t a teenager… or a dance instructor. Wait, yeah she was. A dance instructor at least. She was just a man-made girl, a professor’s rock, or… something.

Not to mention all of these weapons and armor were quite illegal. Maybe. Depending on what they were.

“I’m so confused, Feldyn,” Stryker sighed, and the half-elf laughed. He wasn’t sure what the man had been thinking, but his expressions were comical. “And ye have a right to be! Let me add, you are accepting all of this amazingly well.” Feldyn meant the compliment. Stryker gave a single laugh. “Honestly, I don’t even know if I am. But I mean, what can ya do? I’ve learned to be open-minded, and just not think with some of the shit these kids bring to me.” He shrugged. “Guess that skill is coming in handy.” His expression told the half-elf that he still wasn’t so sure that he wasn’t just going mad.

“Would this be a bad time to ask about that information I wanted you to gather?” Stryker slapped himself in the forehead before Feldyn had finished his question. “Yeah, sorry. Me and guns…” he confessed, and took a piece of paper from the breast pocket of his uniform, handing it to Feldyn. “Strange thing getting this information too,” Stryker said, to an inquisitive eyebrow raise from Feldyn, as he took the folded paper. “The chief usually spends the end of most shifts so furious with me, he looks ready to explode. Only, the last couple weeks, he hasn’t questioned a damn thing I’ve told him.”

Stryker remembered an incident a while back, when Pazely had tied the chief’s shoelaces together at a crime scene. She had meant well, as they were trying to sneak away. The chief hadn’t found it so harmless. In fact, after going into a ballistic rage and screaming at Pazely, Caleb, and Bryan in his office, he later that day had a massive heart attack. Not that the fat bastard didn’t bring it on himself. Officer Stricksent always felt the chief to be complicit in… something. He just didn’t know what yet.

Now that Stryker thought about it… the chief hadn’t been quite the same since. He got… quieter. Stryker figured it was just him trying to not keel again. Yet, the way he acted when Pazely got sent away, all his ‘medical’ absences… And what had they even been investigating that day?

Oh yeah. Mrs. Clausington (Caleb’s girlfriend’s mom) had been involved in an animal attack. The kids had (ironically, now) found huge footprints, and thought it was a giant wolf, as they were exploring the area that led to the chief faceplanting in the gravel from his shoelaces tied together. Stryker, and the animal control officer had later tracked the bear prints to a very dead grizzly. Just why a grizzly was wandering around the outskirts of Castle Rock, they had no idea. To this day, Stryker still found the entire situation odd. Not only did Mrs. Clausington not have proper mauling wounds, the teeth marks were mostly smaller punctures. Like fangs. They had joked at the office about vampires. The chief accepted it as a bear mauling, and Mrs. Clausington confirmed. Case closed, problem solved!

All this shit suddenly didn’t seem so closed to Officer Stricksent.

“Even this information, I mean, he just told me everything when I asked! Having a hard time believing it's even real, y’know? This many disappearances in so many days? The feds should be all over it. There is no way they can not know, yet nothing. They must be keeping it quiet. So how did our little department's chief know about it? I’m going to look into it more later; just jotted the numbers I could confirm for now, since that is basically all you and John had been wanting.”

The half-elf frowned as he looked at the paper. Well, this probably wasn’t good. If this was true, maybe John was right. Even Stryker was concerned, and he didn't even know about the prophecy. In this type of situation, Feldyn had learned that unless one was already paranoid, suspicion was normally accurate to some extent. Stryker did not seem paranoid to him in the least, so his instincts were probably correct.

Something was seriously wrong.

“On a side note, I can’t take Ally and Gigi home till tomorrow morning. Oh, and I should probably sleep here tonight,” Stryker explained. Feldyn didn’t see how that would be bad. John may be closer to accuracy than Feldyn thought, but even if he was, these numbers showed the supposed Terrors were still quite a ways from reaching their goal. There should be plenty of time to disrupt whatever was going on. Maybe Feldyn would even assist in stopping things before it got out of hand. He did feel like he owed them all at least that. Surely he and Masque alone could take care of whatever these Terrors were really doing. He still doubted it was exactly what John thought, but the odds were... increasing. Either way, he would continue to play along with the old man for now.

“Everything okay?” Reba asked Stryker hesitantly. Feldyn hadn't taken his eyes from the note, or shown he had even heard the officer’s last words. Stryker looked over to Reba, who had walked over to them, and noticed Bryan sitting up in the background, talking to Caleb. “The fuck happened to him?” Stryker asked, shocked by the blood. Then it dawned on him, and he snapped his head back to the half-elf, seeing he was covered in blood as well. “Did I miss something?” there was a bit of horror in his voice. Rolling her eyes, “You always miss something,” Reba scolded. “But I’m going to assume from your degree of spaciness, that everything is fine?”

“Yeah, I ‘spose," he replied, flushing again. Reba was very pretty, making her lectures and jabs more embarrassing. "Was saying that Ally’s dad didn’t expect me to drive all night to go pick them up and bring them back. To just stay the night at the shelter they were helping at, and take them home in the morning. I’ll just stay here to better enforce the lie.” Reba didn’t know what to say to that. Just where the hell had he said this shelter was at, anyway?

Pazely stabbed Stryker about a half inch into his left butt cheek with a small dagger. He screamed unflatteringly. “What the holy donkey fuck, Pazely?!” Stryker yelled at her, trying to see his bleeding butt in the mirror. “Did you bring me more clothes too?” she asked calmly. “Yeah! Yeah, I did!” was his -rightfully- irritated-sounding answer. “I left the bag just outside the door!” His face pouted epically, looking at the growing bloodstain in the mirror. “Thank you,” Pazely nodded to him, with a frown. “Carry on,” she said, and walked back over to Caleb and Bryan.

“Is it okay with you if we stay another night?” Ally asked Feldyn, startling him. He hadn’t noticed her approach! Smiling as kindly as he could, “Yes, it is. These numbers show we should have a lot more time than I feared. Enough time, we may be able to prevent the entire thing from taking place.” Now John was hurrying to Feldyn’s side. “Let me see,” he demanded, and took the paper from the half-elf’s hand without waiting for consent.

The Aetherian was right. The number of missing people reported in the state and neighboring one's was staggering, yet far from the mark. What the Terrors were trying to pull off, and if he was right about the requirements, they were going to need six hundred sixty-six thousand nine hundred ninety-nine hearts. Fresh hearts. Human hearts. John expected the number of missing to increase rapidly, because it would surely draw national, then global attention, as over half a million people vanished. Meaning the Terror's best bet for the remainder was hitting a big city. Though, just how many more did they need? Surely they had been collecting them for some time, likely across the country or countries?

“Anyone going to explain?” Caleb asked, finally joining the adults in their conversation. John and Feldyn both looked to Reba, who threw her hands in the air and groaned loudly. “Oh, for God’s sake- I don’t even care anymore! If you want to tell them all more of your retarded theories, be my guest! But can we please eat some lunch?” Everyone’s stomachs seemed to give a collective growl at the mention of food.

Even little Gigi’s tummy growled loudly, from where she was, upstairs in the meeting hall. She then began to put unneeded food items and condiments on the table from the fridge and cupboard. She wanted to help since they were going to come upstairs and cook! They might be jerks trying to send her away, and they deserved to die; but that wasn't an excuse to not be helpful in the kitchen! That's what Jesus would do, after all.

Until she got to the big jar of pickles in the back of the fridge, and dismissed her intentions, opening it up. Gigi looooooooved pickles.