Chapter 3. Eternal Smiles

The people have Manchineel have a custom found commonly in all households and buildings. Never wear shoes inside. Most people when asked why they do this comment “Because it’s respectful.” or “It shows bad stature.” which could be considered true. What most people don’t know is that the custom actually has more supernatural ties.

If you were to ask an elder why the People of Manchineel do this, they would look at you strangely before saying “So Fītoītā doesn’t steal our feet of course.” Once you hear this you may think of them as insane but there is some truth to this.

If you dig through the history of Manchineel, you’ll find that during the time it was custom to remove footwear before entering a household, the use of the word Fītoītā became very popular as well.

By tracing the word Fītoītā back, we can find it linked to the story of a man named Orokamono who was known around his village to be rude and often thought highly of himself. He would often get into disputes with others for simple matters and would constantly call them peasants.

Each week, all the villagers woulds step into the Church and remove all articles of clothes. This was normal as it was disrespectful to step into the domain of god with anything made by man. The only thing that should be brought is the flesh and bone that God gave man.

Orokamono one day had bought a wonderful new pair of shoes and decided to flaunt the town and show them their glimmering design and golden tips. When time came to go to church, Orokamono striped of everything except his shoes. The priest warned Orokamono against such an act as an insult against God but was met with, “God would insult himself by not allowing such a grand creation as myself into his household while I’m in such a glamorous form.”

Orokamono went into the church with nothing but his golden shoes. He prayed, was blessed, and thanked God for his gifts. He went home that night feeling more happy than ever. So happy at himself and so full of pride, Orokamono went to sleep with his shoes on.

When Orokamono awoke, the sun shined brightly in his face. When he got out of bed, Orokamono found his feet to be burned once he touched the floor. Once he looked around Orokamono realized he was not in his house. Fire surrounded him, there was no moisture in the air, and the sun was gone. As Orokamono looked around, he found a creature at the foot of his bed.

It said “I am Fītoītā, a demon born from your insolence. My skin was made and burned from the steps you took on god’s floor. My ears formed from the clicking of marble made by your heels. The eyes were stabbed by the golden point of your shoes. And my mind was created by the sheer height of your ego. I serve to punish those who step with disrespect.

Orokamono looks at the demon in fear and pleads for him to spare him. The demon’s tongue licks the man’s face as he begs with few accounts of his good deeds. Fītoītā looks at the man with pleasure before laughing loudly, so loud that the area shakes, matching the howling coming from the creature’s stomach.

Fītoītā states, “Orokamono, king of fools. I Fītoītā have not come to kill or bring you to hell for eternity. I have come for punishment.” and with those words, Fītoītā takes the golden shoes from Orokamono with swift movement. Before Orokamono can protest, his eyes begin to slowly fall.

With one last glance, he sees the smiling creature known thereafter as Fītoītā holding a pair of red beautiful shoes.

When Orokamono wakes from his slumber, he checks the room. There is no fire, no demon, and the sun shines beautifully through the curtain. He smiles and snickers as the demon, his punishment leaving him shoeless. He is happy and smiles, for he has his life and learned his lesson.

The man known as Orokamono jumps from his bed in joy only to fall hardly onto the floor. Once Orokamono looks around as to how he tripped, he gains a gruesome and pained face.

Where his feet once stood, there now lies two bloody stumps of red flesh and white bone. The blood glistens in the sun and the bone shines like pearl as Orokamono screams in pain. As he screams, a paper lies in the distance at the foot of his bed with one sentence written in blood on it.

“Hope you like your new shoes.”

*Knocking*

“Hold on” a elderly voice says. Light footsteps are heard coming from behind the door.

The door opens slowly to reveal an older woman. Her hair is frayed and white like snow. She has a short stature and somewhat slouches. Her face is covered in powder, most likely from cooking given the aged red apron she has on. Under her apron is a yellow blouse complimented by a pearl necklace.

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The woman looks forward from the door to find a dark silhouette’s bottom half. She slowly looks up to find a being completely covered in the shadow of a nearby tree. When opening the door, she’d been hit with the smell of apples oddly enough. She always finds it strange that each day the odd being comes with a new fruit related sense.

As she looks up, she finds that the only thing visible and familiar is it’s manly form and white gleeful smile. The same smile always showing up in the same black shadows.

At first the woman looks a bit disturbed before showing a smile of familiarity.

“Oh it’s you honey. Dear heavens, you almost had me. You should really start wearing bright clothes; you know it’s hard for me to see these days.

The dark being chuckles softly before muttering some words very quietly. The woman hears these words and chuckles back with another smile.

The woman speaks “I understand hun, I remember my days working. Always had those damn uncomfortable uniforms. God knows what they made them from!” The woman says in a slightly angry voice, remembering days long ago.

The woman pauses and then goes back to smiling, “Anyways hun, why don’t you stop by and come in? I just made some pumpkin pie. The mister says it’s good for me but I think he’s just a pig who likes my cooking.” She laughs for a good minute before coughing a bit.

The man pulls something from his form, a cloth. He hands it to the woman, which she shakingly takes. He gives a few more soft spoken words after so.

*Cough* “Ahh thank y- *Cough* -ou dearie. Such a gentlemen. And are you sure you can’t come in? I won’t take too much of your time.” The woman looks a bit heavy hearted at the man. She always see young folk rushing, never stopping to take a break.

She looks at the dark man to only find him give a few more words. She gives a dull look of understanding before muttering something about how she’s glad she retired early.

The man before giving his farewell gives the woman a brown paper bag, with contents unknown. She smiles once seeing this.

“Ahh thank you hun, so sweet bringing me these at this hour.” she states while setting the bag on the side.

The man gives a courtesy nod before turning away with a white smile.

The woman says somewhat loudly now that he begins to walk away “Okay hun, have a goodnight and be safe.” the elderly woman now begins to close the door with a long creak accompanying it.

Not too long after the elderly woman hears another knock at the door in the distance just after she had set down the pumpkin pie.

“Hold on a second, I’m coming!” she says with surprise in her voice. It’s strange she gets a visit from someone, let alone two.

The elderly woman quickly washes her hands and pats them to dry on her apron, sending some powder in the air with each pat.

She walks towards the door and before turning the corner and opening she suddenly smells something. Maybe ramen or curry.

“...Is it just me or does everyone smell like food before coming to my house…” she says under her breath with a sigh.

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Penelope and Simon continued walking along the street. The street is now obviously less compact and very few people seem to out in the open.

“So I was thinking you play the good cop and try to sweeten the old broad up, and then I’ll come in smashing through the window and assume the role of evil cop.” Penelope stated with a slight glimmer in the eye. She looked towards Simon with a hopeful stare.

“You mean bad cop right?”

Penelope cackled, “No, that’s so overplayed you dope! Evil cop is the new thing. Give em a zap and kill some her cats perhaps. I think that would work well. Only evil people would kill cats.”

Simon is now currently struggling to not throw her into the street but seems to keep his calm. “First of all, we’re guild members, not some petty guards in a skit. Second of all, need I remind you this is an older woman. With just your shrieks, you’ll probably give the poor lady a heart attack.”

Penelope looks offended “Hey! I’m great with old people! How can they not love me! This broad will probably give me candy at first glance of me.” She states proudly.

Simon exhales, “Well by all means, then you should be the lead on this since your so confident. I’ll just stand by for support. Just signal me if you need me to take over.”

“Wa-ait, you mean you want me to take charge?....A rookie? Bu-but you’re supposed to handle the talking!” Penelope is now quite thrown off. She’s not known back at HQ for being very...well mannered. It was a miracle she passed the social exams. Being able to handle and talk to citizens is important in her line of work; a skill she lacks severely.

Simon gains a slight grin. “Heh. So the great and mighty Penelope is shy? Alright kid. I’ll just take over right away then. I thought the number one pup of the academy would be a bit more formidable, but I guess old dogs like me have more backbone.” He says with a laugh.

Penelope grinds her teeth. “WHAT! I am not a pup! I’ll show you, you old geezer! Watch me then. This will be a piece of cake!”

Simon stops walking. “Well I’m glad then, cause we’ve arrived at the house. Go ahead.”

Penelope gulps. The house is old but in a nice way. The outside is painted in a nice royal blue with white outlines. The grass is trimmed even and there’s even a garden that flourishes in green on the side.

Now that Penelope looks around, this is the only house on the block. Everything else is either a crappy apartment or a shitty vendor. It just stood out. How on earth does it keep such vibrant energy in a downtown block like this.

Penelope gains the nerve to begin walking and slowly approaches the door. Simons slowly in tow. He’s enjoying the current situation quite well.

“Ehh...where’s the doorbell?” Penelope states in a confused tone.

Simon almost chokes. “WHAT!”

Penelope looks back at him, he almost fell.

Simon covers his mouth and coughs. “What do you mean kid? Do you not know what knocking is? Dear Gods, what sort of education are the rookies getting these days.” He states shaking his head.

Penelope blushes and angrily whispers. “Shut up! I’ve lived in the Sumcad district my entire life! The whole place has noise blockers everywhere. No one’s going to hear a knock!”

“Ugh…whatever kid. Just knock three times. It’s not difficult.” Simon states, now even more disappointed in his new partner. Something he didn’t think was possible.

Penelope now slightly less angry fixes herself and begins to knock. She shuffles nervously as she hears footsteps from the other side. She quickly puts on her best smile just like the books said to before interacting with citizens.

*CLICK*

The door opens to reveal an older woman. Penelope looks her over and feels nostalgia. She somewhat reminds her of her own grandma. She feels a lot more confident now.

The old woman with close eyes and smile happily states “Why hello dearies. How ca-...” The old woman stops as she opens her eyes to see her current visitors. Her face immediately scrunches up. Almost as if she ate sour candy.

“...What the hell are you guild dogs doing on my property!? Does your owner not know dogs need to be on leashes in this area! Do I need to go get the whistle?” She says with an cocky grin.

The confidence within Penelope dramatically fell to zero in those few seconds.