Dear Diary
I’ve put a bit of effort into the research I talked to you about before. Y’know, about the seven deadly sins? Honestly hope you didn’t forget, since you’re just a book… books don’t have brains. They only have words, hollow and shallow, but also so powerful. A book, fiction or non-fiction, has the power to change the world. But enough with the cryptic stuff. Lord, I think my sister’s influence is rubbing off on me. Anyway, what was I writing about again? Oh yeah, the seven deadly sins. Lord, I’m such a klutz.
The sins are a part of Christianity. According to Wiki (which, yes, is my best friend for these sorts of things), these sins are often thought to be abuses or excessive versions of one's natural faculties or passion. There was a bunch of other stuff about the sins, such as the fact that you cannot go to heaven if you possess even one of these sins. However, that’s not what I care about. Pretty much every species, other than Angels themselves, believe in the lord and all that, apart from a few devout Meif’was and Humans. All I care about are the sins themselves. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I’m studying the sins to see which ones I can pare with Humans. Not surprisingly, it was most of them, if not all of them. You have pride, which I wouldn’t necessarily call a ‘sin’ since everyone should be proud of themselves, so I’m not going to include that one. You then have lust, which is a strong desire for… that, according to Wiki. Yeah, some humans defiantly have that… especially the teenage males, not to be sexist. I’m just stating a fact. I know Meif’was don’t care for it often unless hoping for the reward that comes after. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that a ‘Meif’wa’ is a humanoid cat of sorts. I’m a Meif’wa, actually. And yes, regular cats do exist. Next, you have envy, which is basically wanting something that someone else has; not necessarily an object. A lot of people have this… the same with the other sins: gluttony, wrath and sloth. And then there’s greed, which I find most prominent in Humans. For example, the Humans starting an all-out war against another species and massacring them just because of their greed and lust for power. Power, hierarchy, strength. They’re all things that Humans can’t live without. They can’t unite unless brought together by a complicated common goal that’s often disguised by the word ‘survival’. Most of the time, Humans just end up fighting against themselves anyway. Plus, survival is not about power. Survival is uniting your people to avoid certain death. I swear, a Human’s meaning of survival is messed up, especially with the higher-ups.
Oh, you want to know about this ‘massacre’ the Humans apparently did? You probably do, since I didn’t make it up. First, some history for you, diary. Wait, I should probably call you ‘reader’ instead, since diaries don’t understand these things. Heck reader, you might be a Human from the future where things worked out and humanity stopped being crazy. That would be a bloody utopia. Anyway, story time. Well, right now, it’s the year 2658. But my story starts way back in 2019. In 2019, scientists were able to make fantasy a reality. Using transmutation and a few Human infants, they were able to combine the DNA of an animal and a Human to create a whole new species. They tried it on cats and created Meif’was. They also wanted to try it on dogs, but people were against that. So, they compensated and used wolves instead, creating Werewolves. Sounds like a fantasy, right? Yeah, it sounds like the craziest and most unbelievable fantasy sci-fi mix ever. However, that’s what happened and that’s what you need to believe. I mean, the only reason you wouldn’t believe it is if a species wiped out all the others. Which, reader, I hope didn’t happen. If it did, I’d smite you from my grave or come and find you if I’m still alive. Anyway, then the greedy idiots decided to try and use books to create creatures from the pits of imagination. As I said before, words are powerful. They were able to create Angels and even Demons, but their experimentation was stopped by the government before these wacky people could continue to cheat on mother nature. The people ended up ending their lives when they were told they couldn’t continue, which I like to believe was mother nature telling them to atone for their sins by ending it. That’s why you don’t cheat on people, reader. Especially mother nature, since she’s a feisty one. Did you know these experiments took place in Michigan, USA? Maybe, who knows?
Back on track, the different species were sent to different countries until they multiplied and migrated all over the world. There were two infants of each species, each given to a Human family to take care of them. Of course, it was very weird for Humans to take care of kids who weren’t even their own species. Think of the awkward conversations the parents would’ve had with these kids. Oh, and the government also wanted the parents to make both the kids breed when they were old enough, which was messed up. However, they wanted each species to grow enough to be a proper colony, and then they would legally be allowed to mate with other species (although that doesn’t happen often).
There’s still a lot of controversy about whether different species love is ok. Think about it, I live in a world where people still have arguments about allowing same-sex love and other kinds of sexualities, and then you have to throw cross-species relationship into the mix? It’s so annoying about how these humans don’t except others of their own species. Let people love who they want, dammit! But yeah, it wasn’t good.
About which areas of the world took the first infants of all the new species. The Werewolves were raised in America, where the experiments took place. Meif’was were raised in England, Angels were raised in Australia and Demons were raised in China. Then each species grew and migrated all over the world. I currently live in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland. Here, we have a human and Meif’wa mixed culture, where Demons and Angels don’t hang about. Yet, after Werewolves were made extinct by the Humans, Angels and Demons tend to stay as far away from humans as possible, which I don’t blame them. I would do the same, but I would have nowhere to go. What am I saying? I already have nowhere to go.
The Human VS Werewolf war was started on a rumour that the leader of one of the Werewolf packs was planning an assassination on the president of America back in 2654; four years ago. However, the pack leader claimed to have never said such things. We can’t confirm it as of now, but a lot of Meif’was, Angels, Demons and a select few Humans who actually aren’t stupid have said that it was probably a corrupt person from another species causing trouble to possibly try and make Werewolves go extinct. Still, the president took the situation very seriously. Things escalated quickly and ended up in all-out war. Werewolves may have more strength, but the Humans had something messed up known as a Human brain. The Werewolves were easily outsmarted and ended up never making another sound. A victory for the Human race, but they definitely didn’t deserve it. Humans also have elite teams to hunt down fugitives from other species, even their own, who were associated with Werewolves. Because of that, my life is defiantly not a walk in the park anymore.
Let me guess, you’re probably like “who are you? What happened?” Well, my name is written at the front of the book, and I always write my initials at the end of each entry. What is there to ask unless my diary fell apart and only this entry made it out alive? Ah well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m just one coward among many. However, it’s almost time for me to get something to eat, so I’m going to finish writing this here. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to try and converse with you again, reader. Why wouldn’t I? You are an old friend, even if I don’t know you in person. I just realised that this is a very one-sided relationship we have, reader. I’ll never learn a single thing about you, which is kind of sad. Ah well, water under the bridge. Talk to you soon.
~S.S
I’ve put a bit of effort into the research I talked to you about before. Y’know, about the seven deadly sins? Honestly hope you didn’t forget, since you’re just a book… books don’t have brains. They only have words, hollow and shallow, but also so powerful. A book, fiction or non-fiction, has the power to change the world. But enough with the cryptic stuff. Lord, I think my sister’s influence is rubbing off on me. Anyway, what was I writing about again? Oh yeah, the seven deadly sins. Lord, I’m such a klutz.
The sins are a part of Christianity. According to Wiki (which, yes, is my best friend for these sorts of things), these sins are often thought to be abuses or excessive versions of one's natural faculties or passion. There was a bunch of other stuff about the sins, such as the fact that you cannot go to heaven if you possess even one of these sins. However, that’s not what I care about. Pretty much every species, other than Angels themselves, believe in the lord and all that, apart from a few devout Meif’was and Humans. All I care about are the sins themselves. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I’m studying the sins to see which ones I can pare with Humans. Not surprisingly, it was most of them, if not all of them. You have pride, which I wouldn’t necessarily call a ‘sin’ since everyone should be proud of themselves, so I’m not going to include that one. You then have lust, which is a strong desire for… that, according to Wiki. Yeah, some humans defiantly have that… especially the teenage males, not to be sexist. I’m just stating a fact. I know Meif’was don’t care for it often unless hoping for the reward that comes after. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that a ‘Meif’wa’ is a humanoid cat of sorts. I’m a Meif’wa, actually. And yes, regular cats do exist. Next, you have envy, which is basically wanting something that someone else has; not necessarily an object. A lot of people have this… the same with the other sins: gluttony, wrath and sloth. And then there’s greed, which I find most prominent in Humans. For example, the Humans starting an all-out war against another species and massacring them just because of their greed and lust for power. Power, hierarchy, strength. They’re all things that Humans can’t live without. They can’t unite unless brought together by a complicated common goal that’s often disguised by the word ‘survival’. Most of the time, Humans just end up fighting against themselves anyway. Plus, survival is not about power. Survival is uniting your people to avoid certain death. I swear, a Human’s meaning of survival is messed up, especially with the higher-ups.
Oh, you want to know about this ‘massacre’ the Humans apparently did? You probably do, since I didn’t make it up. First, some history for you, diary. Wait, I should probably call you ‘reader’ instead, since diaries don’t understand these things. Heck reader, you might be a Human from the future where things worked out and humanity stopped being crazy. That would be a bloody utopia. Anyway, story time. Well, right now, it’s the year 2658. But my story starts way back in 2019. In 2019, scientists were able to make fantasy a reality. Using transmutation and a few Human infants, they were able to combine the DNA of an animal and a Human to create a whole new species. They tried it on cats and created Meif’was. They also wanted to try it on dogs, but people were against that. So, they compensated and used wolves instead, creating Werewolves. Sounds like a fantasy, right? Yeah, it sounds like the craziest and most unbelievable fantasy sci-fi mix ever. However, that’s what happened and that’s what you need to believe. I mean, the only reason you wouldn’t believe it is if a species wiped out all the others. Which, reader, I hope didn’t happen. If it did, I’d smite you from my grave or come and find you if I’m still alive. Anyway, then the greedy idiots decided to try and use books to create creatures from the pits of imagination. As I said before, words are powerful. They were able to create Angels and even Demons, but their experimentation was stopped by the government before these wacky people could continue to cheat on mother nature. The people ended up ending their lives when they were told they couldn’t continue, which I like to believe was mother nature telling them to atone for their sins by ending it. That’s why you don’t cheat on people, reader. Especially mother nature, since she’s a feisty one. Did you know these experiments took place in Michigan, USA? Maybe, who knows?
Back on track, the different species were sent to different countries until they multiplied and migrated all over the world. There were two infants of each species, each given to a Human family to take care of them. Of course, it was very weird for Humans to take care of kids who weren’t even their own species. Think of the awkward conversations the parents would’ve had with these kids. Oh, and the government also wanted the parents to make both the kids breed when they were old enough, which was messed up. However, they wanted each species to grow enough to be a proper colony, and then they would legally be allowed to mate with other species (although that doesn’t happen often).
There’s still a lot of controversy about whether different species love is ok. Think about it, I live in a world where people still have arguments about allowing same-sex love and other kinds of sexualities, and then you have to throw cross-species relationship into the mix? It’s so annoying about how these humans don’t except others of their own species. Let people love who they want, dammit! But yeah, it wasn’t good.
About which areas of the world took the first infants of all the new species. The Werewolves were raised in America, where the experiments took place. Meif’was were raised in England, Angels were raised in Australia and Demons were raised in China. Then each species grew and migrated all over the world. I currently live in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland. Here, we have a human and Meif’wa mixed culture, where Demons and Angels don’t hang about. Yet, after Werewolves were made extinct by the Humans, Angels and Demons tend to stay as far away from humans as possible, which I don’t blame them. I would do the same, but I would have nowhere to go. What am I saying? I already have nowhere to go.
The Human VS Werewolf war was started on a rumour that the leader of one of the Werewolf packs was planning an assassination on the president of America back in 2654; four years ago. However, the pack leader claimed to have never said such things. We can’t confirm it as of now, but a lot of Meif’was, Angels, Demons and a select few Humans who actually aren’t stupid have said that it was probably a corrupt person from another species causing trouble to possibly try and make Werewolves go extinct. Still, the president took the situation very seriously. Things escalated quickly and ended up in all-out war. Werewolves may have more strength, but the Humans had something messed up known as a Human brain. The Werewolves were easily outsmarted and ended up never making another sound. A victory for the Human race, but they definitely didn’t deserve it. Humans also have elite teams to hunt down fugitives from other species, even their own, who were associated with Werewolves. Because of that, my life is defiantly not a walk in the park anymore.
Let me guess, you’re probably like “who are you? What happened?” Well, my name is written at the front of the book, and I always write my initials at the end of each entry. What is there to ask unless my diary fell apart and only this entry made it out alive? Ah well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m just one coward among many. However, it’s almost time for me to get something to eat, so I’m going to finish writing this here. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to try and converse with you again, reader. Why wouldn’t I? You are an old friend, even if I don’t know you in person. I just realised that this is a very one-sided relationship we have, reader. I’ll never learn a single thing about you, which is kind of sad. Ah well, water under the bridge. Talk to you soon.
~S.S
Grey clouds covered the sky, creating an ominous colour so deep that it could swallow the inhabitants below. A thunderstorm, not uncommon in Britain. The city streets were covered in puddles, and people were wandering around with warm clothes and umbrellas. Lights illuminated the area, but the time of day was unknown. If it really was daytime, then the sun must have been hiding. From what, I’m not sure. Car engines were the only sound for miles (as well as the crashing of the thunder), people afraid to get even a drop of rain on their hair or clothes. Groups of friends and family were cuddled up indoors; in cafes or houses, to stay as dry as possible. TVs continued to play in shop windows, the news playing on each and every one of them. Phones were out in almost everybody’s hands, using Bluetooth earpieces to make calls without even having to bring their device to their ears. The news continued to play within every ear, every mind. Every person on earth had their information linked within this very earpiece. Well, this city was fully linked, at least. What was the point in even playing the news on the TV anymore? One shop window not only had televisions but posters as well. Mugshots appeared on each one, ‘wanted’ scrawled out in bold letters. A figure was posted on the bottom. ‘£100,000’. Out of all the pedestrians walking past the small shop in the middle of the street, one person turned their head to the window. Petite, with a small frame. A hood obscured their face, but their hair hung out of the bottom of the hood and hung down by their waist. Yellowy-orange; pastel, fading into a bright red. The rest of their hair was hidden from view. The hoodie was white, with rainbow cuffs on the sleeves and bottom trim. However, the hoodie had visible brown dirt marks. Black shorts with white tassels hanging down, definitely not the correct apparel for this kind of weather. Black socks and white sneakers protected their feet, but, much like the hoodie, the sneakers were covered in dirt marks. As they approached the window, they grasped onto one of the posters and tore it off aggressively. They looked at the photo on the poster, they looked up at the footage being broadcasted on the television.
“…we advise everyone to keep an eye out. Even after four years, there are still reports of multiple fugitives around many places in the world. The prime minister and the other major leaders of the world ask for anyone to find any of the suspects shown here. The reward for finding these fugitives will not be small. All we ask is that you take any suspect you see to your nearest police station unharmed. Your government thanks you for your co-operation. Now, onto the weather with…”
The person had zoned out by that point. They heard everything they needed to hear. They scrunched up the poster into a ball, clenching it tightly in their hand. However, they never noticed the risk being there at this moment would bring.
A man looked up from around the corner, two other men next to him. They looked at the person outside of the window.
“Isn’t that... that fugitive girl?” One of the men asked, his voice gruff. He sounded like he had either had one too many puffs, or he was just a delinquent with no job and no care for anyone.
“I heard she’s actually really young,” Another one pointed out, his voice shy and shaky, a large step up from the first.
“What was her name again?” The first one said.
“Uh, not sure,” chirped the third one, who was yet to speak until now, “G… Grace… Gracie… Georgia… something like that.”
Well, who cares?” The first one smiled, “We could split that 100k between us!”
The girl sighed, annoyed that her identity had been compromised. Why had she been so stupid as to approach the window? Anger? Fear? Well, I know for a fact that she knew, and there was no reason for her to question it. She had to act fast. The three men began their pursuit, running up towards her. She quickly turned on her heels and rushed down the street, her hood flying off her head as the wind smashed into her face. Her identity was exposed, for good this time. She cursed under her breath, but there was no reason to fix it now. Her hair was rainbow and flew visibly in the wind. Her blue eyes were a lot darker than her current aesthetic, and they glistened with a broken light of trust turned to distrust. The three men were taller and appeared stronger than the girl, but she was faster. One thing this girl believed in for certain was her natural talent, and she would use it to her advantage. The girl knew she could keep running, but she would surely lose her breath, despite her stamina levels. She needed a plan. The men were shouting things at her to get her to stop running. Bribes, threats, insults. However, the girl knew that she couldn’t fight them. Even if she could beat one of them with her bare fists, she couldn’t tackle a 3v1 battle without a tool. She looked through the street and was able to spot an alleyway in the distance. She dove into it and dashed behind a rubbish bin. As she peeked out, she could see the men run past the alleyway and dash past the corner and onto another street. She breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her forehead with her free hand. She was soaked, and so was the paper ball in her right hand. There was no sitting around though, as those people would surely be here soon. Suddenly, a rustling noise rattled her ears. She turned around swiftly, on edge. There was nowhere for her to run, so she put her hands up in a defensive stance. However, she noticed the source of the sound, and slowly put her hands down, appearing confused. In one of the bins littered around the alleyway, someone was poking out. Only their legs were visible. There were white sneakers with short white ankle socks on their feet. They wore short black shorts, just like she did. However, their shorts had no visible markings. They also had a cat tail, indicating they were a Meif’wa, which was light blue with a pastel pink tip and a white ribbon wrapped around to separate the two colours. Their legs swung back and forwards as the cat dug through the bin. The girl couldn’t help but scrunch her nose. The smell was unbearable.
“Uh, are you ok...?” she asked, trying hard to cover her nose as secretly as possible.
The cat didn’t notice her confused remarks as they continued to dig through the rubbish. A small hand occasionally popped through the side of the bin, chucking out empty wrappers or empty plastic bottles. Man, I’m disgusted people can’t recycle properly. Our girl in the white hoodie really hoped this person wasn’t eating from the bin… Ew, gross. Luckily for her, the matter was settled.
“Aha!” A high-pitched voice sounded from the bin, “finally, something edible!”
The small hand came out once more, holding a small but untouched bag of McDonalds carrot sticks. They threw the bag behind them and reached for the rim of the bin, pulling their head up. A girl, or so it would seem. Blue and pink hair, the colours split down the middle, with white ears. Her eyes were bright blue, and her skin was pale. She locked eyes with the hooded girl, her expression suddenly changing to worry. She tried with all of her might to escape from the bin’s clutches, but it instead toppled over with an ear-shattering sound. The Meif’wa was obviously dazed, but she managed to get up quickly and move into an inadequate fighting stance.
“I bet you’re here for my head, huh?” She sneered, trying to sound as intimidating as possible.
“No, I…” The hooded girl stammered.
“Well, you’re out of luck, miss. I may not look like it, but I’m a p-pretty good fighter. Yeah, I can take you on. I’m not dying here, no way no how.”
“Are you… another fugitive?”
“Oh, shut up! Don’t try to fool me with your lies! As far as I’m aware, all humans can go find a hole and bury themselves alive. Heck, I can’t even trust my own species! So just leave now, before you regret you ever stepped foot into this alleyway!”
“P-Please! I’m not going to hurt you, I promise!”
Now that she thought about it, this person definitely looked familiar. She skimmed through the posters in the shop window before she found the one she was looking for, and that’s probably where she could recognise her from. The Meif’wa was wearing a white hoodie with a pink cat in the middle and the word “meow” written in blue. However, the hoodie’s white had been stained with the mark of a homeless person: mud. Her face looked slightly like hers, in the way that the eyes told a story of loss, betrayal and regret; the old story was obviously a more joyous one.
“I’ll give you ten seconds!” The Meif’wa yelled.
“W-Wait!” The hooded girl said, reaching to the paper ball in her hand.
She unravelled the ball, only to be hit with even bigger despair. The ink was completely wet, and the picture had washed away. Dammit! That was her one piece of evidence…
“For heaven's sake,” The hooded girl cussed under her breath, “this is supposed to be 2658, and they can’t even make ink that stays on a poster in the rain? Haven’t they heard of lamination?”
“You thought showing me my poster would make me afraid just because I haven’t seen it?” The Meif’wa spat, “You’re disgusting.”
“C-Come on, you have to believe me! I’m in the same situation as you, so maybe if you could just settle down and we cou…”
“No! Do you think I’m going to let myself be tricked after all this time? I’ve been running for four years now, and you would be acting differently if you had been doing the same! When you run for this long, you realise that there’s no hope in wishing for an ally to run with. Nobody’s coming to help me! I’m all alone! The only reason I don’t die is to avenge every innocent person who lost their lives: Werewolves and other fugitives alike. Even if I did want to die, I would do it myself instead of letting someone like you do it for me! And before you say anything about being sent to the police alive, I know that everyone who goes there dies! So, don’t try to threaten me with being spared, you sick freak! Unless you can prove to me that you’re with me, then just leave me alo…”
“You want proof? I’ll give you proof that I really didn’t want to share so openly. Anything for a glimmer of hope.”
The hooded girl closed her eyes, and the Meif’wa stepped back, her eyes widening. Ears. Black, fluffy ears. A rainbow tail. Not like the Meif’wa girl’s, either. No, this was different. It was bushy and swung slowly with the wind. The fur quickly became drenched from the rain, but that wasn’t a problem at this point in time. The hooded girl opened her eyes, obviously nervous now. She looked around the area quickly, double checking for anything she could be observed with. Nothing. She was all alone, with only her secret and the Meif’wa girl.
“Y-You’re the last one… aren’t you?” The Meif’wa stammered, “But… why are you showing me this…?”
“Because you wanted proof, so this is it. If you won’t trust a Human, you’ll trust a Werewolf, I presume.”
“I…I… I threatened to hurt you.”
“Which is understandable. I would’ve done the same since I know how awful people can be… but we need to talk, preferably away from here. That ok with you?”
“Why away from here?”
“I was being chased not too long ago, and they could figure out I came here. Also, I think we should find an area where we can’t get wet.”
“Ok… I know another alleyway not far away from here that has an overlay of sorts. We can dash over quickly and hide away there.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
The Werewolf hid her ears and tail again, pulling her hood over her head. The Meif’wa grabbed the bag of carrot sticks she had chucked onto the floor and walked the opposite way from where the Werewolf had ran away from those men. The two girls reached the end of the alleyway fairly quickly and peeked out onto another street. There was another alley almost exactly across from their current one. The Meif’wa looked both ways before grabbing onto the other girl’s arm, running across to the other side of the street and ducking into the alley. They soon came across the place the Meif’wa was talking about and sat on the floor, the rain unable to touch them. Now, they were free to talk.
“I’m sorry for before,” The Meif’wa apologised, her head hanging down and clutching the carrot sticks in her hand.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it… Like I said before, you didn’t know. I know how scared you must be. Still, it’s good to finally find a friend out here.”
“You’ve just met me, and you’re already calling me a friend?” The Meif’wa laughed, “You must be thick.”
“Well, you seem as happy as I am.”
“Heh, I guess… Here, take a carrot stick. I’m sure you need food as much as I do.”
“Yeah, thanks. What’s your name, by the way?”
“Oh? It’s Saskya. Saskya Sunshine. You?”
“Glisten Wildpup. It’s nice to meet you, Saskya.”
“Same to you!”
The two girls sat in silence for a moment, pulling carrot sticks out of the bag and eating them slowly. From the look on Glisten’s face, you could tell carrots weren’t really to her liking. However, any food was enough in their predicament. After the food was devoured with not a single crumb left over, Saskya was the first to speak.
“How did you end up finding me?”
“Dumb luck, honestly. I had just grabbed a poster off the wall and listened to this stupid news programme go on about hunting the fugitives and whatnot when three men saw me and chased me down. I managed to get away by hiding in the alleyway.”
“Why would you look at the posters? That’s an easy way to get caught.”
“I was looking for someone’s.”
“Who’s?”
“My own.”
“Why?”
“For hope.”
“…Hope?”
“Mhm. I was hoping I could finally find an ally after all this time alone. I can’t stand it, knowing my entire species has gone extinct. I need justice, but I can’t do it alone. That’s why I was hoping to find someone like me. Someone who was being hunted. Someone who also wanted to fight for my cause. I took the poster as proof, but it had already been ruined by the rain when I showed it to you.”
“Oh… I’m guessing you didn’t want to reveal that you were the last of your species then?
“Of course not, that would be far too risky. However, I think it was worth the risk since I was able to meet you.”
“I’m honestly glad to know you want to end this. So do I. I’m sick of this… I’m sick of running, sick of losing people, sick of people dying, sick of those humans who ruin everything…”
“What happened to you for you to be cursed by this wretched life? Why are you running and supporting my kind?”
“I’d rather not say, sorry. Despite us being in the same boat, I’m not going to give you my life story.”
“Understandable… But thanks.”
“For what?”
“For not abandoning my species like so many others have. This world needs more people like you. I hope we can be stronger if we bound together and never give in to despair.”
“I…”
Saskya sighed and looked at her hands. Even after all the kind words, she was nervous. She didn’t know who to trust. She had given up all hope for a moment like this, and then it happens. Well, there’s a reason for everything. I know that, but Saskya defiantly didn’t. She held out her hand to Glisten, whose smile faded when she saw Saskya’s hand reach towards her.
“Shake on it,” Saskya said, “Shake on it and we’ll be part of a pack… we’ll be comrades, but I’m not really ready to call someone I just met a friend. However, an ally would be nice.
“It’s a start,” Glisten smiled, as she grabbed onto Saskya’s outstretched hand.
A handshake to connect two people is a big thing, that’s for sure. Not a handshake of friendship, but a handshake of comradery. A handshake of hope. A handshake of a shining future. A handshake to execute justice. A handshake to never hide in the shadows again.
“…we advise everyone to keep an eye out. Even after four years, there are still reports of multiple fugitives around many places in the world. The prime minister and the other major leaders of the world ask for anyone to find any of the suspects shown here. The reward for finding these fugitives will not be small. All we ask is that you take any suspect you see to your nearest police station unharmed. Your government thanks you for your co-operation. Now, onto the weather with…”
The person had zoned out by that point. They heard everything they needed to hear. They scrunched up the poster into a ball, clenching it tightly in their hand. However, they never noticed the risk being there at this moment would bring.
A man looked up from around the corner, two other men next to him. They looked at the person outside of the window.
“Isn’t that... that fugitive girl?” One of the men asked, his voice gruff. He sounded like he had either had one too many puffs, or he was just a delinquent with no job and no care for anyone.
“I heard she’s actually really young,” Another one pointed out, his voice shy and shaky, a large step up from the first.
“What was her name again?” The first one said.
“Uh, not sure,” chirped the third one, who was yet to speak until now, “G… Grace… Gracie… Georgia… something like that.”
Well, who cares?” The first one smiled, “We could split that 100k between us!”
The girl sighed, annoyed that her identity had been compromised. Why had she been so stupid as to approach the window? Anger? Fear? Well, I know for a fact that she knew, and there was no reason for her to question it. She had to act fast. The three men began their pursuit, running up towards her. She quickly turned on her heels and rushed down the street, her hood flying off her head as the wind smashed into her face. Her identity was exposed, for good this time. She cursed under her breath, but there was no reason to fix it now. Her hair was rainbow and flew visibly in the wind. Her blue eyes were a lot darker than her current aesthetic, and they glistened with a broken light of trust turned to distrust. The three men were taller and appeared stronger than the girl, but she was faster. One thing this girl believed in for certain was her natural talent, and she would use it to her advantage. The girl knew she could keep running, but she would surely lose her breath, despite her stamina levels. She needed a plan. The men were shouting things at her to get her to stop running. Bribes, threats, insults. However, the girl knew that she couldn’t fight them. Even if she could beat one of them with her bare fists, she couldn’t tackle a 3v1 battle without a tool. She looked through the street and was able to spot an alleyway in the distance. She dove into it and dashed behind a rubbish bin. As she peeked out, she could see the men run past the alleyway and dash past the corner and onto another street. She breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her forehead with her free hand. She was soaked, and so was the paper ball in her right hand. There was no sitting around though, as those people would surely be here soon. Suddenly, a rustling noise rattled her ears. She turned around swiftly, on edge. There was nowhere for her to run, so she put her hands up in a defensive stance. However, she noticed the source of the sound, and slowly put her hands down, appearing confused. In one of the bins littered around the alleyway, someone was poking out. Only their legs were visible. There were white sneakers with short white ankle socks on their feet. They wore short black shorts, just like she did. However, their shorts had no visible markings. They also had a cat tail, indicating they were a Meif’wa, which was light blue with a pastel pink tip and a white ribbon wrapped around to separate the two colours. Their legs swung back and forwards as the cat dug through the bin. The girl couldn’t help but scrunch her nose. The smell was unbearable.
“Uh, are you ok...?” she asked, trying hard to cover her nose as secretly as possible.
The cat didn’t notice her confused remarks as they continued to dig through the rubbish. A small hand occasionally popped through the side of the bin, chucking out empty wrappers or empty plastic bottles. Man, I’m disgusted people can’t recycle properly. Our girl in the white hoodie really hoped this person wasn’t eating from the bin… Ew, gross. Luckily for her, the matter was settled.
“Aha!” A high-pitched voice sounded from the bin, “finally, something edible!”
The small hand came out once more, holding a small but untouched bag of McDonalds carrot sticks. They threw the bag behind them and reached for the rim of the bin, pulling their head up. A girl, or so it would seem. Blue and pink hair, the colours split down the middle, with white ears. Her eyes were bright blue, and her skin was pale. She locked eyes with the hooded girl, her expression suddenly changing to worry. She tried with all of her might to escape from the bin’s clutches, but it instead toppled over with an ear-shattering sound. The Meif’wa was obviously dazed, but she managed to get up quickly and move into an inadequate fighting stance.
“I bet you’re here for my head, huh?” She sneered, trying to sound as intimidating as possible.
“No, I…” The hooded girl stammered.
“Well, you’re out of luck, miss. I may not look like it, but I’m a p-pretty good fighter. Yeah, I can take you on. I’m not dying here, no way no how.”
“Are you… another fugitive?”
“Oh, shut up! Don’t try to fool me with your lies! As far as I’m aware, all humans can go find a hole and bury themselves alive. Heck, I can’t even trust my own species! So just leave now, before you regret you ever stepped foot into this alleyway!”
“P-Please! I’m not going to hurt you, I promise!”
Now that she thought about it, this person definitely looked familiar. She skimmed through the posters in the shop window before she found the one she was looking for, and that’s probably where she could recognise her from. The Meif’wa was wearing a white hoodie with a pink cat in the middle and the word “meow” written in blue. However, the hoodie’s white had been stained with the mark of a homeless person: mud. Her face looked slightly like hers, in the way that the eyes told a story of loss, betrayal and regret; the old story was obviously a more joyous one.
“I’ll give you ten seconds!” The Meif’wa yelled.
“W-Wait!” The hooded girl said, reaching to the paper ball in her hand.
She unravelled the ball, only to be hit with even bigger despair. The ink was completely wet, and the picture had washed away. Dammit! That was her one piece of evidence…
“For heaven's sake,” The hooded girl cussed under her breath, “this is supposed to be 2658, and they can’t even make ink that stays on a poster in the rain? Haven’t they heard of lamination?”
“You thought showing me my poster would make me afraid just because I haven’t seen it?” The Meif’wa spat, “You’re disgusting.”
“C-Come on, you have to believe me! I’m in the same situation as you, so maybe if you could just settle down and we cou…”
“No! Do you think I’m going to let myself be tricked after all this time? I’ve been running for four years now, and you would be acting differently if you had been doing the same! When you run for this long, you realise that there’s no hope in wishing for an ally to run with. Nobody’s coming to help me! I’m all alone! The only reason I don’t die is to avenge every innocent person who lost their lives: Werewolves and other fugitives alike. Even if I did want to die, I would do it myself instead of letting someone like you do it for me! And before you say anything about being sent to the police alive, I know that everyone who goes there dies! So, don’t try to threaten me with being spared, you sick freak! Unless you can prove to me that you’re with me, then just leave me alo…”
“You want proof? I’ll give you proof that I really didn’t want to share so openly. Anything for a glimmer of hope.”
The hooded girl closed her eyes, and the Meif’wa stepped back, her eyes widening. Ears. Black, fluffy ears. A rainbow tail. Not like the Meif’wa girl’s, either. No, this was different. It was bushy and swung slowly with the wind. The fur quickly became drenched from the rain, but that wasn’t a problem at this point in time. The hooded girl opened her eyes, obviously nervous now. She looked around the area quickly, double checking for anything she could be observed with. Nothing. She was all alone, with only her secret and the Meif’wa girl.
“Y-You’re the last one… aren’t you?” The Meif’wa stammered, “But… why are you showing me this…?”
“Because you wanted proof, so this is it. If you won’t trust a Human, you’ll trust a Werewolf, I presume.”
“I…I… I threatened to hurt you.”
“Which is understandable. I would’ve done the same since I know how awful people can be… but we need to talk, preferably away from here. That ok with you?”
“Why away from here?”
“I was being chased not too long ago, and they could figure out I came here. Also, I think we should find an area where we can’t get wet.”
“Ok… I know another alleyway not far away from here that has an overlay of sorts. We can dash over quickly and hide away there.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
The Werewolf hid her ears and tail again, pulling her hood over her head. The Meif’wa grabbed the bag of carrot sticks she had chucked onto the floor and walked the opposite way from where the Werewolf had ran away from those men. The two girls reached the end of the alleyway fairly quickly and peeked out onto another street. There was another alley almost exactly across from their current one. The Meif’wa looked both ways before grabbing onto the other girl’s arm, running across to the other side of the street and ducking into the alley. They soon came across the place the Meif’wa was talking about and sat on the floor, the rain unable to touch them. Now, they were free to talk.
“I’m sorry for before,” The Meif’wa apologised, her head hanging down and clutching the carrot sticks in her hand.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it… Like I said before, you didn’t know. I know how scared you must be. Still, it’s good to finally find a friend out here.”
“You’ve just met me, and you’re already calling me a friend?” The Meif’wa laughed, “You must be thick.”
“Well, you seem as happy as I am.”
“Heh, I guess… Here, take a carrot stick. I’m sure you need food as much as I do.”
“Yeah, thanks. What’s your name, by the way?”
“Oh? It’s Saskya. Saskya Sunshine. You?”
“Glisten Wildpup. It’s nice to meet you, Saskya.”
“Same to you!”
The two girls sat in silence for a moment, pulling carrot sticks out of the bag and eating them slowly. From the look on Glisten’s face, you could tell carrots weren’t really to her liking. However, any food was enough in their predicament. After the food was devoured with not a single crumb left over, Saskya was the first to speak.
“How did you end up finding me?”
“Dumb luck, honestly. I had just grabbed a poster off the wall and listened to this stupid news programme go on about hunting the fugitives and whatnot when three men saw me and chased me down. I managed to get away by hiding in the alleyway.”
“Why would you look at the posters? That’s an easy way to get caught.”
“I was looking for someone’s.”
“Who’s?”
“My own.”
“Why?”
“For hope.”
“…Hope?”
“Mhm. I was hoping I could finally find an ally after all this time alone. I can’t stand it, knowing my entire species has gone extinct. I need justice, but I can’t do it alone. That’s why I was hoping to find someone like me. Someone who was being hunted. Someone who also wanted to fight for my cause. I took the poster as proof, but it had already been ruined by the rain when I showed it to you.”
“Oh… I’m guessing you didn’t want to reveal that you were the last of your species then?
“Of course not, that would be far too risky. However, I think it was worth the risk since I was able to meet you.”
“I’m honestly glad to know you want to end this. So do I. I’m sick of this… I’m sick of running, sick of losing people, sick of people dying, sick of those humans who ruin everything…”
“What happened to you for you to be cursed by this wretched life? Why are you running and supporting my kind?”
“I’d rather not say, sorry. Despite us being in the same boat, I’m not going to give you my life story.”
“Understandable… But thanks.”
“For what?”
“For not abandoning my species like so many others have. This world needs more people like you. I hope we can be stronger if we bound together and never give in to despair.”
“I…”
Saskya sighed and looked at her hands. Even after all the kind words, she was nervous. She didn’t know who to trust. She had given up all hope for a moment like this, and then it happens. Well, there’s a reason for everything. I know that, but Saskya defiantly didn’t. She held out her hand to Glisten, whose smile faded when she saw Saskya’s hand reach towards her.
“Shake on it,” Saskya said, “Shake on it and we’ll be part of a pack… we’ll be comrades, but I’m not really ready to call someone I just met a friend. However, an ally would be nice.
“It’s a start,” Glisten smiled, as she grabbed onto Saskya’s outstretched hand.
A handshake to connect two people is a big thing, that’s for sure. Not a handshake of friendship, but a handshake of comradery. A handshake of hope. A handshake of a shining future. A handshake to execute justice. A handshake to never hide in the shadows again.
‘Mi… al… Mic… Michael!’
Michael Parks slowly opened his eyes, the world around him a blur. Weakly, he moved his hands towards his eyes and rubbed them. However, no result came from doing so except even more confusion and daze. Few colours were on display to him. The peachy-white of his skin, as well as a few other splotches in the distance. Blue, Cyan, a few spots of blue. Clumps of grey, purple, yellow and the monochrome colours of black and white. Michael positioned one of his hands to the top of his head, only to feel a cloth-like substance in replace of his hair. In a rush of panic, he frisked his hands around his head. Gladly, he could still feel the texture of his hair. Thank god, he hadn’t gone bald. Wait, what god? The real question still stood. Where the hell was he? Suddenly, he felt something grab onto his shoulders and a group of colours moved next to him and bent over. A voice followed.
“Michael! Stay with us! Don’t go into the light, Michael!” The voice yelled. High-pitched, but not squeaky. The voice was familiar to Michael, but he couldn’t make out who the voice belonged to. A conversation continued to unfold in the midst of his faded vision.
“Oh, shut up. He’s not going to die. He just bashed his head.” Another person said, obviously irritated. Their voice was a lot deeper than the first.
“Yeah, but he might have suffered a fate worse than death. Maybe he has amnesia and has forgotten everything about us? Heck, it could only be a matter of seconds before he falls into a coma or something.” Chirped a third one. This person sounded like a real troublemaker by the tone of their voice. The pitch was somewhere in between the first two.
“Don’t say that! You’re the reason he’s in this situation in the first place, you… gnome!” The first person argued.
“A gnome…? Come on, you can think of something better than that! Give me your best shot! Nehehehehe~”
“F-Fine! Uh… You’re a… uh… uhm… Georgia, help me out!”
“Nu-uh, I’m not doing this anymore.” The second one, Georgia, sighed.
“Come ooooooon, Georgia, join in the fun!” The third one whined, “You’re not going to be a b-bully, are yooooou…? That’s so meaaaaaaaaan!”
The third person then let out an ear-shattering cry, which didn’t help Michael’s head a bit. They whined and yelled. It even sounded like they were kicking something at one point. Georgia and the first person both sighed.
“Knock it off, Amaia,” Georgia said, “Your crocodile tears don’t work on me, and I won’t let them work on Rosie, either.”
“Oh, did I get caught?” Amaia asked, her screaming stopping abruptly, “You’re both so boring…”
“Amaia, I would usually be fine with your pranks,” Rosie, the first person, sighed, “But not after what happened to Michael.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Amaia pouted like a little kid, “He just wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing at the time!”
“Well, he literally just walked into the cafeteria when he slipped on one of the banana peels someone had thrown in the midst of all the chaos,” Georgia told her, “How was he meant to know you stood up on a table, let out a war cry, and started a food fight?”
“He’s smart, so he would’ve been able to tell what I was doing! Plus, he’s one of the few people here that aren’t boring, so he must have telepathy that links his mind to mine!” Amaia smiled proudly.
“That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard,” Georgia said begrudgingly, “He might be… unique in mental abilities… however, he definitely can’t read minds.”
The three (well, more like two. Rosie had shut her mouth and let Georgia and Amaia continue to bicker) continued to go back and forth about the situation. Michael couldn’t even make out much, but he had apparently slipped on a banana and hit his head on something… man, how embarrassing. He could feel the situation coming back to him, with Amaia running over before he lost consciousness. Michael’s vision was beginning to clear as he recalled the events to himself in chronological order. With his vision improved, he could see the three people more clearly. Georgia had grabbed Amaia by the neck and pinned her to the wall, Rosie trying desperately to separate the two. Michael was able to muster a few words.
“…What the hell…?” He managed to insubstantially get out.
Rosie turned around and faced Michael with a shocked expression. Georgia turned as well, dropping Amaia on the ground, allowing her to regain her breath. The three girls made their way towards Michael at their own pace. While they did that, Michael allowed himself to grasp the room he was in more firmly. Ah, he recognised this place. It was one of the infirmary rooms inside of the building he was staying in. Cyan walls, the surrounding area decorated with small potted plants. Michael was laying in one of the few beds in the room. All of the other sleeping areas were unoccupied. Other than the three girls in front of him, he was the only one in the building.
“Michael, you’re ok!” Rosie smiled, giving him a small hug, “You don’t have amnesia, right? You remember us, right? Amaia is wrong, right?”
Rosie was the only non-human out of the girls. The middle one when it came to height, Rosie looked like she didn’t know what she wanted out of her outfit. She was a Meif’wa, her ears and tail pitch black. Her hair was blond, fading into a dark blue around the tips. Piercing-blue eyes, as well. Her jacket was clearly themed around the milky-way, zipped up so her shirt wasn’t able to be seen. She also had an apple watch around her wrist, as well as wearing black jeans and monochrome sneakers. The sneakers were a fake version of a popular brand but still looked nice, nonetheless. Michael weakly sat up in the bed as Rosie hugged him, subtly trying to get her to let go. Georgia was able to catch Michael’s uncomfortableness and pulled Rosie by the tail, causing her to let out a yelp of pain.
“What was that for?” She asked, rubbing her tail as a tear trickled down her face.
“To get you to read the mood, you dumb cat,” Georgia sighed, leaning against the wall next to the front of the bed, where Michael’s head was closest to.
Georgia was undoubtedly a ‘gangster goth’, if that’s the right term for it. Mascara, purple eye shadow, deep red lipstick, grey hair with purple tips. She definitely fits the bill of both gangster and goth. She had lightslate-grey eyes. She was the tallest of the three, but she wasn’t that much taller than Rosie. Her hair was down and obviously well cared for, gold-rimmed shades rested on the top of her head. The gold was obviously fake, but that didn’t matter too much. Her ears were pierced with yellow studs, nothing glamorous. She wore a dark grey jumper, unzipped to reveal a plain white shirt underneath. A gold necklace hung around her neck, a small skull attached to the chain. She also wore black jeans, like Rosie, and white sneakers. She looked at Michael with a look that really gave the impression that Georgia really thought Michael was one of the unluckiest people she had ever met.
“Walking into a room and instantly hurting your head by slipping on a banana peel…” Georgia sighed, “That is so you, Michael.”
"H-hey, it’s not my fault…” Michael said.
“It totally is, Michael!” Amaia frowned, “You didn’t telepathically read my mind, so you walked into the cafeteria without knowing about the food fight! You’re so useless!”
Amaia looked like a child. Her purple hair was short and spiked up in multiple different places, the length going to just below the bottom of her face. Her eyes were purple from a disease less commonly known as albinism disease, where there is a small amount or no pigment melanin in the iris, causing purple eyes. She was the smallest of the three girls, with a very petite frame. She wore a plain white dress, with a bandanna wrapped around her neck, pattered like a chess board. She also wore white socks and pumps. Michael sighed at Amaia’s comment.
“I already told you, Amaia. Sure, I can telepathically control other objects or people. However, I cannot use that to communicate with others. You should know that by now…”
“Urg, that’s booooooring! Are you trying to bore me on purpose, Michael!” Amaia yelled, “That’s it! I’m going to hit you so hard that you really do fall into a coma!”
“Amaia, don’t!” Rosie yelled, reaching for her wrist. However, Georgia pulled her back and whispered into her ear.
“If she does, I’ll kill her quicker than you can say something stupid. For now, let’s just see what happens.”
“F-Fine,” Rosie frowned.
Amaia swiftly ran to the right of Michael’s face, the opposite side to Rosie and Georgia. She raised her palm and swung it with all her might with all her might until she hit Michael in the face. Well, when I say hit… I mean she gently poked his cheek instead. Michael just stared at her, as she brought both her hands to her face and poked both of her cheeks.
“Uso Dayo! Nehehehehehe~” Amaia giggled.
“W-What the hell does that mean?” Michael asked, confused.
“It’s a lie!” Amaia beamed, spinning around in a circle.
“Of course it means that…” Michael sighed.
Before any of them could say any more, a small chorus of dinging noises sounded from a set of speakers in the room. Four of them in total, each ding a higher pitch than the other. Afterwards, a voice boomed out from the speakers.
“Could Georgia Blythe and Rosie Allison please make their way to the caretaker’s room. Thank you!”
The sound cut off, and all the girls let out a sigh. Georgia groaned.
“For god’s sake.”
“This is obviously about reporting if you’ve properly recovered, Michael,” Rosie told him.
“Why, though?” Michael asked, “Why doesn’t miss Heartgrove just come to me?”
“Because she doesn’t want to speak to Amaia, most likely,” Georgia told him, “Also, we already know that you’re going to be punished alongside Amaia.”
“Huh? But why? I’m injured, goddammit!” Michael moaned.
“That’s what I told her the first time we had to go,” Rosie said, “Amaia was with us at that time. She misread the situation and thought Michael was joining in with Amaia. It doesn’t help that we’re all roommates, so it was easy for you to get condemned along with her. There was nothing we could do.”
“I tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen to me,” Amaia glowered, “She just thought I was lying.”
“And we can see why she thought that,” Georgia said, “However, she wasn’t lying. Anyway, we better get going so we don’t join you both. Try and rest while you can, Michael.”
“Got it,” Michael nodded, “Thanks, you two.”
They both nodded as they walked out of the room, leaving Michael alone with Amaia. The two of them were quiet. Amaia didn’t even look at Michael. Instead, she just stared at the floor and shuffled her feet about on the blue carpet. Michael knew he needed to break the awkward conversation.
“So, Amaia,” Michael began, “You tried to cover for me?”
“Oh? Yeah, I did,” Amaia replied, looking up at him. “Is that a surprise to you?”
“I mean, kind of…” Michael said truthfully, “I just thought you wouldn’t have a need to do that since then you wouldn’t be alone.”
“I’m sad you think that I would do that,” Amaia frowned, “I may be a liar, a joker, a trickster, a two-faced jack in the box and a… gnome, as Rosie would say. However, I’m not heartless. Sure, being alone would suck, and I would usually find a way to make you join me in whatever festivities, my word for punishment, I would be partaking in. However, I was the reason you got hurt, so I didn’t think you’d be fit for any fun today.”
“Ah, I see,” Michael nodded, “Thanks for being considerate, I guess.”
“You’re welcome,” Amaia said bluntly as she looked back at the floor again.
Before Michael could continue speaking to Amaia, Rosie and Georgia walked back into the room. Both of their faces looked tired and fed-up. Georgia was muttering curse words to herself, while Rosie's head was hanging so low that it could’ve fallen off.
“Lay down the cards,” Michael said.
“Utter bs, I’m afraid,” Georgia moaned, “You’re both cleaning the cafeteria and kitchen. Miss Heartgrove wants you both in there within five minutes or else.”
“Or else what?” Amaia asked.
“We don’t know,” Rosie said dejectedly.
“My lord, this orphanage really does suck,” Michael huffed, the girls nodding in agreement.
“You two should get going,” Rosie said, “we’ll be in our room until you guys get back,” Rosie told them, as she walked out of the room with Georgia right behind her.
“Welp, time to get messy! Nehehehehe~” Amaia snickered, holding the door open, “After you, Monsieur.”
“Thank you, Madame,” Michael laughed as he got out of the bed.
Michael’s appearance was generic compared to his friends. He had generic blonde hair, gelled into a side parting of sorts. His eyes were seafoam green. He wore a generic white hoodie and blue jeans with blue sneakers. He walked out of the room unsteadily, his head still reeling slightly from his injury. Amaia waltzed out behind him as the two of them made their way to the cafeteria.
“This place is a mess!” Michael gasped.
He and Amaia had just walked into the cafeteria when their eyes were met with the true carnage of Amaia’s arranged food fight. Even though this wasn’t the first time this had happened, it clearly was the worst mess Amaia had ever made. Fruit peelings were scattered all over the floor, along with potatoes, sausages, Yorkshire puddings, and other necessities found in your Sunday roast. Glasses and plates had been shattered, along with a few lights. Amaia stood on one of the marble tables and put her hands on her hips.
“Do you see this work of art, Michael?” Amaia boasted, “This is the result of Amaia’s revolutionary food fight that will go down in the history of Burrows Orphanage! They may take our lives, but they will not take our freeeeeeeeeeeeedom! Nehehehehehe~! Next up is… Za warudo!”
“What does that one mean?”
“Easy! It means ‘The World’! It’s from ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’! Damn, Michael, you really need to buckle down on your knowledge.
“What, my knowledge of outdated anime? Amaia, you know I don’t watch anime, right?”
“Oh, come ooooooon, that quote was even a meme!”
“Yeah… a meme from back when the other species were made. When was that… 2019? What year is it now, Amaia?”
“Oh, shut up! I…”
“Miss Amo, why are you on the table?”
Amaia and Michael turned towards the entrance, where a woman was standing with a stern expression on her face. She was… ah, what’s a nice way to put this? I would say… slightly overweight. She walked (well, more like stomped) past Michael and over to Amaia. Amaia quickly climbed off the bench via the side the woman was not standing at. She then sprinted next to Michael and gripped her hands behind her back. The woman sighed and moved in front of the two. She towered over them both, so they had to look up to see her face.
“Mister Parks… Miss Amo…” The woman sneered at the mention of Amaia’s name.
The two of them said nothing. Michael felt the sweat dripping down his face, his knees touching each other, his legs slightly bent. He had been through worse, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t scared of this woman. If she wanted to, she could snap her fingers and you’d be homeless in an instant. Michael took a glance at Amaia. Her face held a prominent smirk. However, her hands that were held behind her back were shaking. She was obviously scared, but only he could view that. From the front, she looked totally calm. The woman glared at the two. And then, she stepped forwards, causing the two kids to take a step back.
“What do you say when I address you, you snot-nosed worms?” She yelled.
“G-Good Afternoon, Miss Heartgrove!” The two said. Michael said it with a stammer, while Amaia said it quite confidently.
“Better,” Miss Heartgrove spat, “I’m honestly disappointed in you both. You know I’m a decent person, but there’s only so far I can go with kids like you… Anyway, I’ll assume you both know why you’re here. You’re here to clean up this crap you’ve left all over the cafeteria, as well as clean up the kitchen. That’s all there is to it. You won’t leave this area until this whole place is clean, and if I find it isn’t done by the time I walk in here tomorrow, then you’re both being kicked out of this place. I need to say something to both of you before you get started. Miss Amo…”
“Yes, Ma’am?” Amaia asked.
“You are seriously pulling me towards my last nerve, young lady,” Miss Heartgrove scoffed, “Not only do you drag Mister Parks around with you in your antics, but you’ve even got a whole cafeteria full of children involved. I’m going to say this to you, Miss Amo… One more incident after this, and you will be removed from the orphanage. Understand?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Amaia replied. She seemed as cool as ice. However, Michael could see her eyes darting around the room, calculating how quickly she could clean this up. As she told him before, she wasn’t an idiot.
“Mister Parks…”
“Y-Yes, Miss?” Michael stammered.
“I understand that you have suffered a head injury, and I do know that you did nothing wrong, despite what I told your other roommates earlier. I’m sure they told you, anyway. However, this does not mean that you haven’t been assisting Miss Amo in a handful of her antics, and we believe you have been getting off lightly. I know you need to rest, and please get plenty of it after cleaning up the area. Understand?”
“Yes, Miss.” Michael sighed.
“Alright, get to work. I’ll check your work in the morning.” Miss Heartgrove said as she shut the cafeteria door behind her. Michael and Amaia both let out a sigh.
“I think I peed my pants… figuratively,” Amaia sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
“S-Same,” Michael said, “Amaia, you really need to be careful from now on.”
“I know…” Amaia said silently as she picked up a mop that Miss Heartgrove had left for them and started wiping the floor.
“Amaia…” Michael tried to say something, but his words trailed off into nothingness.
Michael sighed. It was better to leave her alone for now. It was 8pm, and they had until morning. Also, it would be preferable if they cleaned as fast as he could so he could get some sleep. Michael grabbed a dustpan and brush from the pile of cleaning utensils and began to work on the tables. There were a few long tables with benches reaching across the whole width, with two chairs on the ends of each table. Michael and Amaia both got to work on each and every bit. After a while, Amaia seemed to have cheered herself up. She began spinning around her mop like she was dancing around a pole in a night club. They were in the kitchen at the time this was happening, the cafeteria completely clean. However, it was 10pm. Cleaning the cafeteria had taken two long and painful hours. Amaia reached her hand out towards Michael.
“Come ooooooooon, Michael! Spin with me!”
“But we need to get this done, Amaia.”
“Awwwwww, you’re no fuuuuuun, Michael!”
“Heh, sorry.”
“Why won’t you spin then?” Amaia asked as she stopped spinning and idly held the mop in her hand.
“Because… the truth is that if we don’t get this done, we’ll be kicked out and left homeless… I can’t let that happen to me.”
“Come on, Michael. Moping around will get you nowhere in life.”
“Huh? But this is the truth, Amaia. If I was happy, I’d just be lying to myself…”
“Aaaaaaaaaand?”
“Hm?”
“Come on, Michael. Is lying to yourself really a bad thing? There’s only one truth, but there are a million possibilities for lies, y’know? Why think about the bad when you can let them go and think about the good? And if you’re that worried, we can multitask and spin while we cleeeeeeean!”
“Wow… Ok then, I guess…”
Before Michael had a chance to react, Amaia grabbed onto his arm and pulled him towards her, forcing his hand onto the mop. Michael looked at Amaia, dumbfounded. Amaia let out a devilish grin and pushed her feet against the floor, the two of them picking up momentum.
A lot of other things happened that night to make it fun. Singing while washing dishes, riding on the cutlery cart, sword fighting with kitchen knives (which Michael argued against, so they had to use blunt knives instead), hide and seek with a twist where they had to clean wherever they passed. The two friends danced around the cafeteria and kitchen until around midnight, when the job was finally done. The two of them lay on the floor, out of breath. They just looked at each other with a smile. The two of them eventually sat up, Michael clutching his head.
“Ow ow ow ow ow! I have a serious migraine now.”
“Nehehehehe~! You look really tired, Michael!”
“I’m not sure how you’re not…”
“I’m used to this, you silly nugget!”
“Heh… could we go back to the room now? I really need to stop my head from throbbing anymore.”
“Sure. Here’ I’ll help you up.”
Amaia stood up and reached out her hand. Michael grabbed Amaia’s hand without hesitation and pulled himself up with her assistance. He felt his feet wobble a bit, but he was able to keep his balance. Amaia, still holding his hand, gave him a smirk.
“Do you need to use my shoulder, Mr Bump? Nehehehehe~!”
“Urg… Y-Yeah…”
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting that response…”
“…Why?”
“No reason! Here.”
Amaia wrapped her hand around Michael’s back, and he did the same to her. Michael tried to find his centre of balance, and the two of them took slow steps towards the door to the dining hall.
Michael Parks slowly opened his eyes, the world around him a blur. Weakly, he moved his hands towards his eyes and rubbed them. However, no result came from doing so except even more confusion and daze. Few colours were on display to him. The peachy-white of his skin, as well as a few other splotches in the distance. Blue, Cyan, a few spots of blue. Clumps of grey, purple, yellow and the monochrome colours of black and white. Michael positioned one of his hands to the top of his head, only to feel a cloth-like substance in replace of his hair. In a rush of panic, he frisked his hands around his head. Gladly, he could still feel the texture of his hair. Thank god, he hadn’t gone bald. Wait, what god? The real question still stood. Where the hell was he? Suddenly, he felt something grab onto his shoulders and a group of colours moved next to him and bent over. A voice followed.
“Michael! Stay with us! Don’t go into the light, Michael!” The voice yelled. High-pitched, but not squeaky. The voice was familiar to Michael, but he couldn’t make out who the voice belonged to. A conversation continued to unfold in the midst of his faded vision.
“Oh, shut up. He’s not going to die. He just bashed his head.” Another person said, obviously irritated. Their voice was a lot deeper than the first.
“Yeah, but he might have suffered a fate worse than death. Maybe he has amnesia and has forgotten everything about us? Heck, it could only be a matter of seconds before he falls into a coma or something.” Chirped a third one. This person sounded like a real troublemaker by the tone of their voice. The pitch was somewhere in between the first two.
“Don’t say that! You’re the reason he’s in this situation in the first place, you… gnome!” The first person argued.
“A gnome…? Come on, you can think of something better than that! Give me your best shot! Nehehehehe~”
“F-Fine! Uh… You’re a… uh… uhm… Georgia, help me out!”
“Nu-uh, I’m not doing this anymore.” The second one, Georgia, sighed.
“Come ooooooon, Georgia, join in the fun!” The third one whined, “You’re not going to be a b-bully, are yooooou…? That’s so meaaaaaaaaan!”
The third person then let out an ear-shattering cry, which didn’t help Michael’s head a bit. They whined and yelled. It even sounded like they were kicking something at one point. Georgia and the first person both sighed.
“Knock it off, Amaia,” Georgia said, “Your crocodile tears don’t work on me, and I won’t let them work on Rosie, either.”
“Oh, did I get caught?” Amaia asked, her screaming stopping abruptly, “You’re both so boring…”
“Amaia, I would usually be fine with your pranks,” Rosie, the first person, sighed, “But not after what happened to Michael.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Amaia pouted like a little kid, “He just wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing at the time!”
“Well, he literally just walked into the cafeteria when he slipped on one of the banana peels someone had thrown in the midst of all the chaos,” Georgia told her, “How was he meant to know you stood up on a table, let out a war cry, and started a food fight?”
“He’s smart, so he would’ve been able to tell what I was doing! Plus, he’s one of the few people here that aren’t boring, so he must have telepathy that links his mind to mine!” Amaia smiled proudly.
“That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard,” Georgia said begrudgingly, “He might be… unique in mental abilities… however, he definitely can’t read minds.”
The three (well, more like two. Rosie had shut her mouth and let Georgia and Amaia continue to bicker) continued to go back and forth about the situation. Michael couldn’t even make out much, but he had apparently slipped on a banana and hit his head on something… man, how embarrassing. He could feel the situation coming back to him, with Amaia running over before he lost consciousness. Michael’s vision was beginning to clear as he recalled the events to himself in chronological order. With his vision improved, he could see the three people more clearly. Georgia had grabbed Amaia by the neck and pinned her to the wall, Rosie trying desperately to separate the two. Michael was able to muster a few words.
“…What the hell…?” He managed to insubstantially get out.
Rosie turned around and faced Michael with a shocked expression. Georgia turned as well, dropping Amaia on the ground, allowing her to regain her breath. The three girls made their way towards Michael at their own pace. While they did that, Michael allowed himself to grasp the room he was in more firmly. Ah, he recognised this place. It was one of the infirmary rooms inside of the building he was staying in. Cyan walls, the surrounding area decorated with small potted plants. Michael was laying in one of the few beds in the room. All of the other sleeping areas were unoccupied. Other than the three girls in front of him, he was the only one in the building.
“Michael, you’re ok!” Rosie smiled, giving him a small hug, “You don’t have amnesia, right? You remember us, right? Amaia is wrong, right?”
Rosie was the only non-human out of the girls. The middle one when it came to height, Rosie looked like she didn’t know what she wanted out of her outfit. She was a Meif’wa, her ears and tail pitch black. Her hair was blond, fading into a dark blue around the tips. Piercing-blue eyes, as well. Her jacket was clearly themed around the milky-way, zipped up so her shirt wasn’t able to be seen. She also had an apple watch around her wrist, as well as wearing black jeans and monochrome sneakers. The sneakers were a fake version of a popular brand but still looked nice, nonetheless. Michael weakly sat up in the bed as Rosie hugged him, subtly trying to get her to let go. Georgia was able to catch Michael’s uncomfortableness and pulled Rosie by the tail, causing her to let out a yelp of pain.
“What was that for?” She asked, rubbing her tail as a tear trickled down her face.
“To get you to read the mood, you dumb cat,” Georgia sighed, leaning against the wall next to the front of the bed, where Michael’s head was closest to.
Georgia was undoubtedly a ‘gangster goth’, if that’s the right term for it. Mascara, purple eye shadow, deep red lipstick, grey hair with purple tips. She definitely fits the bill of both gangster and goth. She had lightslate-grey eyes. She was the tallest of the three, but she wasn’t that much taller than Rosie. Her hair was down and obviously well cared for, gold-rimmed shades rested on the top of her head. The gold was obviously fake, but that didn’t matter too much. Her ears were pierced with yellow studs, nothing glamorous. She wore a dark grey jumper, unzipped to reveal a plain white shirt underneath. A gold necklace hung around her neck, a small skull attached to the chain. She also wore black jeans, like Rosie, and white sneakers. She looked at Michael with a look that really gave the impression that Georgia really thought Michael was one of the unluckiest people she had ever met.
“Walking into a room and instantly hurting your head by slipping on a banana peel…” Georgia sighed, “That is so you, Michael.”
"H-hey, it’s not my fault…” Michael said.
“It totally is, Michael!” Amaia frowned, “You didn’t telepathically read my mind, so you walked into the cafeteria without knowing about the food fight! You’re so useless!”
Amaia looked like a child. Her purple hair was short and spiked up in multiple different places, the length going to just below the bottom of her face. Her eyes were purple from a disease less commonly known as albinism disease, where there is a small amount or no pigment melanin in the iris, causing purple eyes. She was the smallest of the three girls, with a very petite frame. She wore a plain white dress, with a bandanna wrapped around her neck, pattered like a chess board. She also wore white socks and pumps. Michael sighed at Amaia’s comment.
“I already told you, Amaia. Sure, I can telepathically control other objects or people. However, I cannot use that to communicate with others. You should know that by now…”
“Urg, that’s booooooring! Are you trying to bore me on purpose, Michael!” Amaia yelled, “That’s it! I’m going to hit you so hard that you really do fall into a coma!”
“Amaia, don’t!” Rosie yelled, reaching for her wrist. However, Georgia pulled her back and whispered into her ear.
“If she does, I’ll kill her quicker than you can say something stupid. For now, let’s just see what happens.”
“F-Fine,” Rosie frowned.
Amaia swiftly ran to the right of Michael’s face, the opposite side to Rosie and Georgia. She raised her palm and swung it with all her might with all her might until she hit Michael in the face. Well, when I say hit… I mean she gently poked his cheek instead. Michael just stared at her, as she brought both her hands to her face and poked both of her cheeks.
“Uso Dayo! Nehehehehehe~” Amaia giggled.
“W-What the hell does that mean?” Michael asked, confused.
“It’s a lie!” Amaia beamed, spinning around in a circle.
“Of course it means that…” Michael sighed.
Before any of them could say any more, a small chorus of dinging noises sounded from a set of speakers in the room. Four of them in total, each ding a higher pitch than the other. Afterwards, a voice boomed out from the speakers.
“Could Georgia Blythe and Rosie Allison please make their way to the caretaker’s room. Thank you!”
The sound cut off, and all the girls let out a sigh. Georgia groaned.
“For god’s sake.”
“This is obviously about reporting if you’ve properly recovered, Michael,” Rosie told him.
“Why, though?” Michael asked, “Why doesn’t miss Heartgrove just come to me?”
“Because she doesn’t want to speak to Amaia, most likely,” Georgia told him, “Also, we already know that you’re going to be punished alongside Amaia.”
“Huh? But why? I’m injured, goddammit!” Michael moaned.
“That’s what I told her the first time we had to go,” Rosie said, “Amaia was with us at that time. She misread the situation and thought Michael was joining in with Amaia. It doesn’t help that we’re all roommates, so it was easy for you to get condemned along with her. There was nothing we could do.”
“I tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen to me,” Amaia glowered, “She just thought I was lying.”
“And we can see why she thought that,” Georgia said, “However, she wasn’t lying. Anyway, we better get going so we don’t join you both. Try and rest while you can, Michael.”
“Got it,” Michael nodded, “Thanks, you two.”
They both nodded as they walked out of the room, leaving Michael alone with Amaia. The two of them were quiet. Amaia didn’t even look at Michael. Instead, she just stared at the floor and shuffled her feet about on the blue carpet. Michael knew he needed to break the awkward conversation.
“So, Amaia,” Michael began, “You tried to cover for me?”
“Oh? Yeah, I did,” Amaia replied, looking up at him. “Is that a surprise to you?”
“I mean, kind of…” Michael said truthfully, “I just thought you wouldn’t have a need to do that since then you wouldn’t be alone.”
“I’m sad you think that I would do that,” Amaia frowned, “I may be a liar, a joker, a trickster, a two-faced jack in the box and a… gnome, as Rosie would say. However, I’m not heartless. Sure, being alone would suck, and I would usually find a way to make you join me in whatever festivities, my word for punishment, I would be partaking in. However, I was the reason you got hurt, so I didn’t think you’d be fit for any fun today.”
“Ah, I see,” Michael nodded, “Thanks for being considerate, I guess.”
“You’re welcome,” Amaia said bluntly as she looked back at the floor again.
Before Michael could continue speaking to Amaia, Rosie and Georgia walked back into the room. Both of their faces looked tired and fed-up. Georgia was muttering curse words to herself, while Rosie's head was hanging so low that it could’ve fallen off.
“Lay down the cards,” Michael said.
“Utter bs, I’m afraid,” Georgia moaned, “You’re both cleaning the cafeteria and kitchen. Miss Heartgrove wants you both in there within five minutes or else.”
“Or else what?” Amaia asked.
“We don’t know,” Rosie said dejectedly.
“My lord, this orphanage really does suck,” Michael huffed, the girls nodding in agreement.
“You two should get going,” Rosie said, “we’ll be in our room until you guys get back,” Rosie told them, as she walked out of the room with Georgia right behind her.
“Welp, time to get messy! Nehehehehe~” Amaia snickered, holding the door open, “After you, Monsieur.”
“Thank you, Madame,” Michael laughed as he got out of the bed.
Michael’s appearance was generic compared to his friends. He had generic blonde hair, gelled into a side parting of sorts. His eyes were seafoam green. He wore a generic white hoodie and blue jeans with blue sneakers. He walked out of the room unsteadily, his head still reeling slightly from his injury. Amaia waltzed out behind him as the two of them made their way to the cafeteria.
“This place is a mess!” Michael gasped.
He and Amaia had just walked into the cafeteria when their eyes were met with the true carnage of Amaia’s arranged food fight. Even though this wasn’t the first time this had happened, it clearly was the worst mess Amaia had ever made. Fruit peelings were scattered all over the floor, along with potatoes, sausages, Yorkshire puddings, and other necessities found in your Sunday roast. Glasses and plates had been shattered, along with a few lights. Amaia stood on one of the marble tables and put her hands on her hips.
“Do you see this work of art, Michael?” Amaia boasted, “This is the result of Amaia’s revolutionary food fight that will go down in the history of Burrows Orphanage! They may take our lives, but they will not take our freeeeeeeeeeeeedom! Nehehehehehe~! Next up is… Za warudo!”
“What does that one mean?”
“Easy! It means ‘The World’! It’s from ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’! Damn, Michael, you really need to buckle down on your knowledge.
“What, my knowledge of outdated anime? Amaia, you know I don’t watch anime, right?”
“Oh, come ooooooon, that quote was even a meme!”
“Yeah… a meme from back when the other species were made. When was that… 2019? What year is it now, Amaia?”
“Oh, shut up! I…”
“Miss Amo, why are you on the table?”
Amaia and Michael turned towards the entrance, where a woman was standing with a stern expression on her face. She was… ah, what’s a nice way to put this? I would say… slightly overweight. She walked (well, more like stomped) past Michael and over to Amaia. Amaia quickly climbed off the bench via the side the woman was not standing at. She then sprinted next to Michael and gripped her hands behind her back. The woman sighed and moved in front of the two. She towered over them both, so they had to look up to see her face.
“Mister Parks… Miss Amo…” The woman sneered at the mention of Amaia’s name.
The two of them said nothing. Michael felt the sweat dripping down his face, his knees touching each other, his legs slightly bent. He had been through worse, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t scared of this woman. If she wanted to, she could snap her fingers and you’d be homeless in an instant. Michael took a glance at Amaia. Her face held a prominent smirk. However, her hands that were held behind her back were shaking. She was obviously scared, but only he could view that. From the front, she looked totally calm. The woman glared at the two. And then, she stepped forwards, causing the two kids to take a step back.
“What do you say when I address you, you snot-nosed worms?” She yelled.
“G-Good Afternoon, Miss Heartgrove!” The two said. Michael said it with a stammer, while Amaia said it quite confidently.
“Better,” Miss Heartgrove spat, “I’m honestly disappointed in you both. You know I’m a decent person, but there’s only so far I can go with kids like you… Anyway, I’ll assume you both know why you’re here. You’re here to clean up this crap you’ve left all over the cafeteria, as well as clean up the kitchen. That’s all there is to it. You won’t leave this area until this whole place is clean, and if I find it isn’t done by the time I walk in here tomorrow, then you’re both being kicked out of this place. I need to say something to both of you before you get started. Miss Amo…”
“Yes, Ma’am?” Amaia asked.
“You are seriously pulling me towards my last nerve, young lady,” Miss Heartgrove scoffed, “Not only do you drag Mister Parks around with you in your antics, but you’ve even got a whole cafeteria full of children involved. I’m going to say this to you, Miss Amo… One more incident after this, and you will be removed from the orphanage. Understand?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Amaia replied. She seemed as cool as ice. However, Michael could see her eyes darting around the room, calculating how quickly she could clean this up. As she told him before, she wasn’t an idiot.
“Mister Parks…”
“Y-Yes, Miss?” Michael stammered.
“I understand that you have suffered a head injury, and I do know that you did nothing wrong, despite what I told your other roommates earlier. I’m sure they told you, anyway. However, this does not mean that you haven’t been assisting Miss Amo in a handful of her antics, and we believe you have been getting off lightly. I know you need to rest, and please get plenty of it after cleaning up the area. Understand?”
“Yes, Miss.” Michael sighed.
“Alright, get to work. I’ll check your work in the morning.” Miss Heartgrove said as she shut the cafeteria door behind her. Michael and Amaia both let out a sigh.
“I think I peed my pants… figuratively,” Amaia sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
“S-Same,” Michael said, “Amaia, you really need to be careful from now on.”
“I know…” Amaia said silently as she picked up a mop that Miss Heartgrove had left for them and started wiping the floor.
“Amaia…” Michael tried to say something, but his words trailed off into nothingness.
Michael sighed. It was better to leave her alone for now. It was 8pm, and they had until morning. Also, it would be preferable if they cleaned as fast as he could so he could get some sleep. Michael grabbed a dustpan and brush from the pile of cleaning utensils and began to work on the tables. There were a few long tables with benches reaching across the whole width, with two chairs on the ends of each table. Michael and Amaia both got to work on each and every bit. After a while, Amaia seemed to have cheered herself up. She began spinning around her mop like she was dancing around a pole in a night club. They were in the kitchen at the time this was happening, the cafeteria completely clean. However, it was 10pm. Cleaning the cafeteria had taken two long and painful hours. Amaia reached her hand out towards Michael.
“Come ooooooooon, Michael! Spin with me!”
“But we need to get this done, Amaia.”
“Awwwwww, you’re no fuuuuuun, Michael!”
“Heh, sorry.”
“Why won’t you spin then?” Amaia asked as she stopped spinning and idly held the mop in her hand.
“Because… the truth is that if we don’t get this done, we’ll be kicked out and left homeless… I can’t let that happen to me.”
“Come on, Michael. Moping around will get you nowhere in life.”
“Huh? But this is the truth, Amaia. If I was happy, I’d just be lying to myself…”
“Aaaaaaaaaand?”
“Hm?”
“Come on, Michael. Is lying to yourself really a bad thing? There’s only one truth, but there are a million possibilities for lies, y’know? Why think about the bad when you can let them go and think about the good? And if you’re that worried, we can multitask and spin while we cleeeeeeean!”
“Wow… Ok then, I guess…”
Before Michael had a chance to react, Amaia grabbed onto his arm and pulled him towards her, forcing his hand onto the mop. Michael looked at Amaia, dumbfounded. Amaia let out a devilish grin and pushed her feet against the floor, the two of them picking up momentum.
A lot of other things happened that night to make it fun. Singing while washing dishes, riding on the cutlery cart, sword fighting with kitchen knives (which Michael argued against, so they had to use blunt knives instead), hide and seek with a twist where they had to clean wherever they passed. The two friends danced around the cafeteria and kitchen until around midnight, when the job was finally done. The two of them lay on the floor, out of breath. They just looked at each other with a smile. The two of them eventually sat up, Michael clutching his head.
“Ow ow ow ow ow! I have a serious migraine now.”
“Nehehehehe~! You look really tired, Michael!”
“I’m not sure how you’re not…”
“I’m used to this, you silly nugget!”
“Heh… could we go back to the room now? I really need to stop my head from throbbing anymore.”
“Sure. Here’ I’ll help you up.”
Amaia stood up and reached out her hand. Michael grabbed Amaia’s hand without hesitation and pulled himself up with her assistance. He felt his feet wobble a bit, but he was able to keep his balance. Amaia, still holding his hand, gave him a smirk.
“Do you need to use my shoulder, Mr Bump? Nehehehehe~!”
“Urg… Y-Yeah…”
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting that response…”
“…Why?”
“No reason! Here.”
Amaia wrapped her hand around Michael’s back, and he did the same to her. Michael tried to find his centre of balance, and the two of them took slow steps towards the door to the dining hall.
Murmurs: endless, incessant chattering. It could’ve been heard for miles. The whole area was flooded with a crowd of people, all of whom were cheering and showing support for whoever was in the centre of the gathering. The person/people in the mist seemed to be passing through the crowd, giving small but polite waves to the others in the area. However, it was impossible to see them at the back of the crowd, so who they were was unknown to mostly everyone. Every single person was parted like the red sea, allowing them to pass through slowly. The wind blew through the trees, and the sun shone as bright as it ever had. For 2658, people sure do know how to keep parks and other areas for wildlife healthy. This park was quite small compared to others, but it was still pretty big, nonetheless. Well, you’d expect nothing less from a state like Washington. One person in the crowd could be seen pushing themselves out of the commotion, sketchbook in their hand and pencil behind their ear. They had a petite stature but didn’t look like a child, either. From their appearance alone, this person was most likely a female, but one-hundred per cent Human. Wavy, chocolate-brown hair draped down to her shoulders. Dark-green eyes and tanned skin. Freckles were dotted around her nose. She wore a short-sleeved pink shirt, with a golden heart neckless around her neck. Light-blue jeans and blue sneakers were upon her legs and feet. She just seemed like your average person you’d be able to find anywhere on the street. The girl was out of breath after breaking through the gathering of people. She had tried to get a look at the situation by barging towards the front, but that hadn’t worked out. For a small person like her, it was unlikely to work anyway. She slowly walked up to a tree just a small distance away from everything and sat down in front of it, her book still clutched tightly in her hands. Was it really worth it, anyway? She didn’t know for certain, but there’s always a reason for crowds… the world is just simple like that. Maybe there was a pop idol or a blazing brawl? Whatever it was, she had stopped showing that she cared the moment she was shoved aside. Well, it’s not hard for someone as plain as her to be pushed away like some kid’s plaything. With a heavy sigh, she pulled the pencil out from behind her ear and opened the first page of her sketchbook. Her name was neatly written inside; ‘Emily Johnson’. With another flip of the page, Emily observed her previous works of art since she had purchased this particular book. Each design was mostly unique from one another, with neat pages and neatly rubbed-out marks. Well, except for some of the earlier drawings in her book, which were so awfully scribbled out that they were beyond repair. Most of the drawings in the book were anime-style anatomy, with a few slightly-messy realistic drawing attempts. There was a clear learning curve from the beginning to where she was in her book, improvements were easily noticeable. Her signature and the date she drew the picture on was also written on each page (other than the scribbled-out pages). Emily quickly found a blank page to draw on and removed all of her surroundings from her brain, which was difficult with all the noise. She occasionally looked up at everyone else in the park. The number of people was clearly slowing the one(s) everyone was attracted to - for some reason - down. Another noticeable thing was that almost everyone was wearing earpieces to connect to everyone and everything without effort. Emily knew that a large syndicate company had made them and that almost everyone owned a pair or two. Emily really wanted some, but she was pretty broke, and a lot of people who used DeviantArt had moved on to making money by allowing people to buy their art through calls they made on their earpieces. Ah well, it’s not like her life was going to be affected greatly by not having some. Part way through her drawing, an ear-shattering noise echoed through the park. It came from amidst the large crowd of people, and everyone stopped what they were doing and listened. A voice was then heard.
“Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?”
The crowd of people were all facing towards the speaker, and there were also glances by passers-by. Emily also stopped what she was doing to listen to what the person had to say.
“Sorry for the loud noise, but I don’t have my own set of earpieces to talk to you all wirelessly, so I had to talk to you all via this megaphone here. Anyway, I am now politely asking the people in the crowd to move. The president has a meeting to attend to, and it is inefficient to escort him with this many people around. If you could please disperse in an orderly fashion, that would be greatly appreciated. However, one more message, if you would please lend me your ears for just a few more seconds. Most people should know about this from the recent reports in the area, but a convict from a nearby prison has escaped. They’re a serial killer/abuser who abused his own daughter before murdering countless other people. They could be around anywhere, and we ask civilians to keep an eye out. Anyway, thank you for your time.”
At the end of the speech, the people in the area slowly but surely died down. Emily knew she wasn’t in the way, so she decided to stay by the tree and continue drawing. However, she could now clearly see what the Humans and Meif’was crowded around before were so obsessed about. The president of the USA wasn’t being driven to his meeting? Slightly absurd, but I guess even the most important people like to walk around, even in this abnormal situation. ‘Abnormal’ is being surrounded by around ten bodyguards with armed sniper rifles, which this man was. Out of the ten there, they all looked mostly the same. Cladded in black armour, with a helmet placed upon their heads. One had Meif’wa features, and the rest were Human. This is to be expected, as the Human population was much greater than all other species. The speech still rattled through Emily’s brain, especially the part about an escaped convict being loose from a nearby prison. It worried her greatly, her legs shaking slightly as her sketchbook rested upon her lap. Whoever was abused… she just hoped they were still alive and were living a happier life without their father. While she was worried over something so stupid, she hardly noticed the president and his bodyguards had started walking through the park again. They had barely walked when one of the guards in front stopped the others from moving. The two guards at the front now had firm grasps on their rifles, the other guards following suit once realising they had sensed danger. Emily looked up for what felt like the tenth time and studied the commotion carefully. A man stood directly in front of them, his hands behind his back. His clothes were pretty common, just a regular pair of blue jeans and a black hoodie covering his head. The man quickly sidestepped out of the way and continued to face them as the guards began to walk past slowly. However, one of the guards at the back stopped and pulled the one next to them so they would stop as well.
“What are you doing?” The one being pulled asked, “We have a duty to perform.”
“Ah, forget it,” the other one told them, “I need to look into this.”
“What are you…?”
But the other guard wasn’t listening. They walked towards the guy in the hoodie, their helmet hiding their expression. Emily had no idea what was going on, but her eyes wouldn’t let her look away.
“Sorry for the trouble, sir,” They said to the man, their voice calm but also full of personality, “I need to ask you about what’s behind your back.”
“Hm? Nothing’s behind my back.”
“Then could you show me, please?”
“I will, once you answer my question for me.”
“…Ask away.”
“Have you seen a young girl around here…? Short hair, wears a gold neckless… usually carries an artbook.”
“No, I haven’t. Now, can you show me what’s behind your back?”
Realisation had just slapped Emily across the face. Escaped convict, abuse then murder… it was all adding up to make a complete picture that injected despair into the atmosphere. Emily tried to stand up, but something stopped her before she could… Emily looked up slowly. The blade stuck out from the tree trunk, some of the wood tearing away at the sight of it. The blade was just inches away from her forehead. Emily’s eyes widened, as both of the bodyguards stood dumbfounded. Suddenly, the man took off towards Emily. Multiple screams could be heard by onlookers, all of which fled the area without a single thought to help Emily. Emily was the person who let out the loudest scream, paralysed in fear. One of the guards looked at the other.
“Damien.”
“Already on it, Aurora.”
One of the guards, named Damien, was on the hunt. His uniform hid most of his appearance, but his Meif’wa ears and tail made him stand out like a sore thumb. He sprinted past the hooded man, who was obviously taken aback by the fact that neither of them were trying to shoot him. Instead, Damien ran towards the tree and grabbed Emily by the arm, quickly pulling her up after she had been positioned away from the knife implanted in the tree’s bark. Damien pulled Emily so hard that she was forced to run with him. Damien turned his head to her while they were running.
“Don’t panic, everything’s going to be fine…”
His voice wasn’t reassuring. He sounded scared as well… Actually, I think petrified is a better word to describe it. From the conversation he was having with the other guard, Aurora, before, she could tell that he wasn’t used to splitting away from the rest of the president’s forces. Damien ran next to Aurora and let go of Emily’s arm, allowing her to hide behind them. The three of them stood in front of the man, a good distance away. The man had since yanked his knife out of the tree’s grasp and had now turned to face the two bodyguards. Damien, like Emily, seemed to be frozen in fear. He was definitely a coward with armour and a gun. Aurora, on the other hand, seemed to be the complete opposite. She lifted her gun and aimed at the man. Emily could hear her take a deep breath before she spoke.
“Drop the knife, and the end result will be a lot less painful…”
Instead of a response, the man threw his knife with incredible accuracy and speed. It impaled itself into Aurora’s fingers. She let out a shriek of pain and dropped her rifle to the floor, the knife unlodging itself from her fingers and falling right next to the gun, slightly splattering both the gun and the floor with blood. Aurora clutched her fingers, causing the blood to trickle onto her palm and drip onto the floor. On impulse, Damien picked up his rifle and took a quick-fire shot at the man. However, he just stood there as the bullet flew past him and fell to the floor. However, the man knew he couldn’t get close, because then Damien really would put a round in him. Instead, he took one last stare in Emily’s direction before running off further into the park. Aurora looked up in the direction he ran before turning to Damien.
“Go after him, quickly!”
“Not while you’re injured! Plus, it would also be better to get this girl to safety first.”
“F-Fine…”
Damien grabbed onto Emily’s arm with one hand, and Aurora’s arm in the other. Emily grabbed the knife and Aurora’s rifle before being dragged away. Damien was agile, which was probably why he was the one who ran to Emily while Aurora took aim. After a while, the three of them ended up at an alleyway next to a Walmart store in the area. Damien let go of the two girls and allowed them to sit down. He took off his helmet, revealing jet-black hair and bright blue eyes. It was also noticeable that his ears and tail were black as well. He then proceeded to also remove Aurora’s helmet, revealing pink hair that was tied back into a ponytail that hung over her right shoulder. She also had pink eyes, which were probably just contact lenses. Damien then rushed into the store, leaving the two girls alone. While he was in the store, Aurora continued to grunt in pain, yet no tears ever appeared in her cheeks. After around twenty minutes, Damien came back with sandwiches, a small packet of portable baby wipes, and a packet of plasters. As well as this, he was now fully dressed in casual clothing. An orange jumper, black jeans and black sneakers. He put the sandwiches on the floor, as well as Emily’s sketchbook. Wait, when did he take that from her? Probably when he grabbed onto her by the tree. Damien quickly opened the pack of wipes and pulled one out of the bag. He knelt on the floor and held Aurora’s palm gently in his hand, before looking up at her.
“Sorry, but this is going to sting a little,” He sighed, gently pressing the wipe onto the wound.
Aurora grimaced, letting out a small grunt of pain.
“S-Sorry,” Damien muttered, allowing the wipe to soak up the blood.
He removed the wipe, now stained red, and carefully spread her fingers apart. He then reached for the plasters and stuck one on each finger so that she could move them freely. Damien then let go of her hand and passed her another baby wipe, allowing her to wipe the blood off the other parts of her body. Aurora sighed and rested her hands on her lap.
“Thanks, Damien.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Anyways,” Aurora said with a surprisingly positive tone, “what’s your name, Potato?”
“Potato…? Me…?” Emily asked, shyly putting her hands towards her mouth.
“Yeah! You’re small, cute, and you look delicious! A potato!”
“Oh, erm, it’s Emily. Emily Johnson.”
“Nice to meet you, Emily! I’m just going to call you Potato, since it’s cute!”
“Anyway,” Damien cut in, “I’m going to get straight to the point. Who was that guy, Emily?”
“I… don’t want to go into the nitty-gritty details,” Emily shuddered, “but that guy… is my dad.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Aurora nodded, “Especially considering the recent news reports and stuff surrounding that guy… You must have had a rough childhood.”
“N-No, I…” Emily stammered, before trailing off.
“Anyway, I’m going to move on to the next thing I want to address,” Damien began, “Aurora… WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DRAG US AWAY FOR??? THIS COULD HAVE GOTTEN US KILLED, AND NOW WE’VE PROBABLY LOST OUR JOBS.”
“Oh, calm down,” Aurora told him, “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I just followed my first duty before the second.”
“First duty…?” Emily and Damien said together.
“Eh, don’t sweat the little details. It’s private, and I’m sure we all have stuff we don’t want to share… Right?”
Both Damien and Emily sighed and nodded.
“Exactly. Anyway, Potato. By the name of my first duty, I’ll help you hunt down your father, no matter what! If I don’t, then I shouldn’t be allowed to be called “Aurora Harper”! Instead, I’ll be called “Failure McMuffin”.
“One, are we saying our last names now?” Damien said with a smirk, “If so, then I, the mighty Damien Allison, will assist you with your duties. And second, what’s with “McMuffin” anyway?”
“Oh, easy! It’s because I’ll probably eat a lot and drink too much alcohol because of the guilt and fatten myself up to muffin size… Wait, you’ll help me?”
“Of course! I don’t have anywhere else to go so…”
“Heh, same here. You the same, Potato?”
“I… I guess so,” Emily said.
“Then I guess we’re in this together!”
Damien nodded with a smile, while Emily looked at the floor. Sure, she was alone to being with… but now she was with people who were going to hunt down her father. Sure, he’s abusive, an awful parent and deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life… but does he deserve to die? Probably, but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she knew he was killed without a chance to change.
“…Hey, Emily?” Damien asked, causing Emily to snap back to reality.
“Y-Yeah?”
“Are you good at fighting, by any chance?”
“N-No…”
“Can you handle a weapon?”
“No…”
“Can you do anything else, Potato?” Aurora questioned Emily, leaning closer.
“Well… I can draw… I can use a computer pretty well… And…”
“OH OH! Can you program or hack into things?”
“I can program, yeah.”
“AH! PERFECT!”
Aurora hugged Emily tightly, who hesitantly hugged her back. Damien rested his head in his palm.
“Urm, Aurora…” He muttered, “I don’t think you should hug someone you just met…”
“Ah, you’re right. Sorry, Potato.”
Aurora let go of Emily, who took a deep breath in. Aurora, Damien and Emily then sat in silence for a while, each of them taking one of the sandwiches Damien bought and eating it slowly. After a while, Aurora grabbed onto her rifle that Emily had dumped onto the floor when they arrived at the alley. She also pocketed the knife after she had cleaned off the blood with a baby wipe. Aurora then looked at Emily.
“Alright! Let’s head to your house, Potato!”
“Uh… why mine?”
“Well… Damien and I lived in the white house since we were allowed jobs as bodyguards after… You know what, never mind that. Let’s just say that your house would be a lot more efficient than nowhere.”
“Why can’t you guys go back to the white house and meet me tomorrow?”
“Yeah, why can’t we do that, Aurora?” Damien chirped in.
“Well… we tried to kill a guy instead of detaining them, y’know? The news broadcasters are going to be all over that tea, so the president probably isn’t going to let us back in, no matter how much he pities us.”
“…Pities you…?” Emily pondered.
“Don’t worry about it,” Damien told her, “Anyway, I agree with you… There really isn’t a place we can go to. Man, this is bringing back flashbacks.”
“Anyway… Pleeeeeease, Potato!”
“F-Fine,” Emily sighed, “Even though I’m not that comfortable letting people I just met into my apartment, even though you saved my life… But I guess I need to repay you somehow. Just know that you’ll probably have to sleep on the sofa.”
“Perfectly fine with us,” Damien smiled.
“Alright then,” Emily said, standing up, “We better get going then, since it’s a long walk back.”
“Gotcha! Thanks, Potato!” Aurora beamed as she grabbed her belongings and stood beside Emily.
“Let’s see how things work out, I guess…” Damien said simply.
Emily’s head was racing right now. As her two new friends walked beside her, she wondered whether everything was going to be ok. One thing she did know, her abnormal life just got even stranger.
“Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?”
The crowd of people were all facing towards the speaker, and there were also glances by passers-by. Emily also stopped what she was doing to listen to what the person had to say.
“Sorry for the loud noise, but I don’t have my own set of earpieces to talk to you all wirelessly, so I had to talk to you all via this megaphone here. Anyway, I am now politely asking the people in the crowd to move. The president has a meeting to attend to, and it is inefficient to escort him with this many people around. If you could please disperse in an orderly fashion, that would be greatly appreciated. However, one more message, if you would please lend me your ears for just a few more seconds. Most people should know about this from the recent reports in the area, but a convict from a nearby prison has escaped. They’re a serial killer/abuser who abused his own daughter before murdering countless other people. They could be around anywhere, and we ask civilians to keep an eye out. Anyway, thank you for your time.”
At the end of the speech, the people in the area slowly but surely died down. Emily knew she wasn’t in the way, so she decided to stay by the tree and continue drawing. However, she could now clearly see what the Humans and Meif’was crowded around before were so obsessed about. The president of the USA wasn’t being driven to his meeting? Slightly absurd, but I guess even the most important people like to walk around, even in this abnormal situation. ‘Abnormal’ is being surrounded by around ten bodyguards with armed sniper rifles, which this man was. Out of the ten there, they all looked mostly the same. Cladded in black armour, with a helmet placed upon their heads. One had Meif’wa features, and the rest were Human. This is to be expected, as the Human population was much greater than all other species. The speech still rattled through Emily’s brain, especially the part about an escaped convict being loose from a nearby prison. It worried her greatly, her legs shaking slightly as her sketchbook rested upon her lap. Whoever was abused… she just hoped they were still alive and were living a happier life without their father. While she was worried over something so stupid, she hardly noticed the president and his bodyguards had started walking through the park again. They had barely walked when one of the guards in front stopped the others from moving. The two guards at the front now had firm grasps on their rifles, the other guards following suit once realising they had sensed danger. Emily looked up for what felt like the tenth time and studied the commotion carefully. A man stood directly in front of them, his hands behind his back. His clothes were pretty common, just a regular pair of blue jeans and a black hoodie covering his head. The man quickly sidestepped out of the way and continued to face them as the guards began to walk past slowly. However, one of the guards at the back stopped and pulled the one next to them so they would stop as well.
“What are you doing?” The one being pulled asked, “We have a duty to perform.”
“Ah, forget it,” the other one told them, “I need to look into this.”
“What are you…?”
But the other guard wasn’t listening. They walked towards the guy in the hoodie, their helmet hiding their expression. Emily had no idea what was going on, but her eyes wouldn’t let her look away.
“Sorry for the trouble, sir,” They said to the man, their voice calm but also full of personality, “I need to ask you about what’s behind your back.”
“Hm? Nothing’s behind my back.”
“Then could you show me, please?”
“I will, once you answer my question for me.”
“…Ask away.”
“Have you seen a young girl around here…? Short hair, wears a gold neckless… usually carries an artbook.”
“No, I haven’t. Now, can you show me what’s behind your back?”
Realisation had just slapped Emily across the face. Escaped convict, abuse then murder… it was all adding up to make a complete picture that injected despair into the atmosphere. Emily tried to stand up, but something stopped her before she could… Emily looked up slowly. The blade stuck out from the tree trunk, some of the wood tearing away at the sight of it. The blade was just inches away from her forehead. Emily’s eyes widened, as both of the bodyguards stood dumbfounded. Suddenly, the man took off towards Emily. Multiple screams could be heard by onlookers, all of which fled the area without a single thought to help Emily. Emily was the person who let out the loudest scream, paralysed in fear. One of the guards looked at the other.
“Damien.”
“Already on it, Aurora.”
One of the guards, named Damien, was on the hunt. His uniform hid most of his appearance, but his Meif’wa ears and tail made him stand out like a sore thumb. He sprinted past the hooded man, who was obviously taken aback by the fact that neither of them were trying to shoot him. Instead, Damien ran towards the tree and grabbed Emily by the arm, quickly pulling her up after she had been positioned away from the knife implanted in the tree’s bark. Damien pulled Emily so hard that she was forced to run with him. Damien turned his head to her while they were running.
“Don’t panic, everything’s going to be fine…”
His voice wasn’t reassuring. He sounded scared as well… Actually, I think petrified is a better word to describe it. From the conversation he was having with the other guard, Aurora, before, she could tell that he wasn’t used to splitting away from the rest of the president’s forces. Damien ran next to Aurora and let go of Emily’s arm, allowing her to hide behind them. The three of them stood in front of the man, a good distance away. The man had since yanked his knife out of the tree’s grasp and had now turned to face the two bodyguards. Damien, like Emily, seemed to be frozen in fear. He was definitely a coward with armour and a gun. Aurora, on the other hand, seemed to be the complete opposite. She lifted her gun and aimed at the man. Emily could hear her take a deep breath before she spoke.
“Drop the knife, and the end result will be a lot less painful…”
Instead of a response, the man threw his knife with incredible accuracy and speed. It impaled itself into Aurora’s fingers. She let out a shriek of pain and dropped her rifle to the floor, the knife unlodging itself from her fingers and falling right next to the gun, slightly splattering both the gun and the floor with blood. Aurora clutched her fingers, causing the blood to trickle onto her palm and drip onto the floor. On impulse, Damien picked up his rifle and took a quick-fire shot at the man. However, he just stood there as the bullet flew past him and fell to the floor. However, the man knew he couldn’t get close, because then Damien really would put a round in him. Instead, he took one last stare in Emily’s direction before running off further into the park. Aurora looked up in the direction he ran before turning to Damien.
“Go after him, quickly!”
“Not while you’re injured! Plus, it would also be better to get this girl to safety first.”
“F-Fine…”
Damien grabbed onto Emily’s arm with one hand, and Aurora’s arm in the other. Emily grabbed the knife and Aurora’s rifle before being dragged away. Damien was agile, which was probably why he was the one who ran to Emily while Aurora took aim. After a while, the three of them ended up at an alleyway next to a Walmart store in the area. Damien let go of the two girls and allowed them to sit down. He took off his helmet, revealing jet-black hair and bright blue eyes. It was also noticeable that his ears and tail were black as well. He then proceeded to also remove Aurora’s helmet, revealing pink hair that was tied back into a ponytail that hung over her right shoulder. She also had pink eyes, which were probably just contact lenses. Damien then rushed into the store, leaving the two girls alone. While he was in the store, Aurora continued to grunt in pain, yet no tears ever appeared in her cheeks. After around twenty minutes, Damien came back with sandwiches, a small packet of portable baby wipes, and a packet of plasters. As well as this, he was now fully dressed in casual clothing. An orange jumper, black jeans and black sneakers. He put the sandwiches on the floor, as well as Emily’s sketchbook. Wait, when did he take that from her? Probably when he grabbed onto her by the tree. Damien quickly opened the pack of wipes and pulled one out of the bag. He knelt on the floor and held Aurora’s palm gently in his hand, before looking up at her.
“Sorry, but this is going to sting a little,” He sighed, gently pressing the wipe onto the wound.
Aurora grimaced, letting out a small grunt of pain.
“S-Sorry,” Damien muttered, allowing the wipe to soak up the blood.
He removed the wipe, now stained red, and carefully spread her fingers apart. He then reached for the plasters and stuck one on each finger so that she could move them freely. Damien then let go of her hand and passed her another baby wipe, allowing her to wipe the blood off the other parts of her body. Aurora sighed and rested her hands on her lap.
“Thanks, Damien.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Anyways,” Aurora said with a surprisingly positive tone, “what’s your name, Potato?”
“Potato…? Me…?” Emily asked, shyly putting her hands towards her mouth.
“Yeah! You’re small, cute, and you look delicious! A potato!”
“Oh, erm, it’s Emily. Emily Johnson.”
“Nice to meet you, Emily! I’m just going to call you Potato, since it’s cute!”
“Anyway,” Damien cut in, “I’m going to get straight to the point. Who was that guy, Emily?”
“I… don’t want to go into the nitty-gritty details,” Emily shuddered, “but that guy… is my dad.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Aurora nodded, “Especially considering the recent news reports and stuff surrounding that guy… You must have had a rough childhood.”
“N-No, I…” Emily stammered, before trailing off.
“Anyway, I’m going to move on to the next thing I want to address,” Damien began, “Aurora… WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DRAG US AWAY FOR??? THIS COULD HAVE GOTTEN US KILLED, AND NOW WE’VE PROBABLY LOST OUR JOBS.”
“Oh, calm down,” Aurora told him, “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I just followed my first duty before the second.”
“First duty…?” Emily and Damien said together.
“Eh, don’t sweat the little details. It’s private, and I’m sure we all have stuff we don’t want to share… Right?”
Both Damien and Emily sighed and nodded.
“Exactly. Anyway, Potato. By the name of my first duty, I’ll help you hunt down your father, no matter what! If I don’t, then I shouldn’t be allowed to be called “Aurora Harper”! Instead, I’ll be called “Failure McMuffin”.
“One, are we saying our last names now?” Damien said with a smirk, “If so, then I, the mighty Damien Allison, will assist you with your duties. And second, what’s with “McMuffin” anyway?”
“Oh, easy! It’s because I’ll probably eat a lot and drink too much alcohol because of the guilt and fatten myself up to muffin size… Wait, you’ll help me?”
“Of course! I don’t have anywhere else to go so…”
“Heh, same here. You the same, Potato?”
“I… I guess so,” Emily said.
“Then I guess we’re in this together!”
Damien nodded with a smile, while Emily looked at the floor. Sure, she was alone to being with… but now she was with people who were going to hunt down her father. Sure, he’s abusive, an awful parent and deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life… but does he deserve to die? Probably, but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she knew he was killed without a chance to change.
“…Hey, Emily?” Damien asked, causing Emily to snap back to reality.
“Y-Yeah?”
“Are you good at fighting, by any chance?”
“N-No…”
“Can you handle a weapon?”
“No…”
“Can you do anything else, Potato?” Aurora questioned Emily, leaning closer.
“Well… I can draw… I can use a computer pretty well… And…”
“OH OH! Can you program or hack into things?”
“I can program, yeah.”
“AH! PERFECT!”
Aurora hugged Emily tightly, who hesitantly hugged her back. Damien rested his head in his palm.
“Urm, Aurora…” He muttered, “I don’t think you should hug someone you just met…”
“Ah, you’re right. Sorry, Potato.”
Aurora let go of Emily, who took a deep breath in. Aurora, Damien and Emily then sat in silence for a while, each of them taking one of the sandwiches Damien bought and eating it slowly. After a while, Aurora grabbed onto her rifle that Emily had dumped onto the floor when they arrived at the alley. She also pocketed the knife after she had cleaned off the blood with a baby wipe. Aurora then looked at Emily.
“Alright! Let’s head to your house, Potato!”
“Uh… why mine?”
“Well… Damien and I lived in the white house since we were allowed jobs as bodyguards after… You know what, never mind that. Let’s just say that your house would be a lot more efficient than nowhere.”
“Why can’t you guys go back to the white house and meet me tomorrow?”
“Yeah, why can’t we do that, Aurora?” Damien chirped in.
“Well… we tried to kill a guy instead of detaining them, y’know? The news broadcasters are going to be all over that tea, so the president probably isn’t going to let us back in, no matter how much he pities us.”
“…Pities you…?” Emily pondered.
“Don’t worry about it,” Damien told her, “Anyway, I agree with you… There really isn’t a place we can go to. Man, this is bringing back flashbacks.”
“Anyway… Pleeeeeease, Potato!”
“F-Fine,” Emily sighed, “Even though I’m not that comfortable letting people I just met into my apartment, even though you saved my life… But I guess I need to repay you somehow. Just know that you’ll probably have to sleep on the sofa.”
“Perfectly fine with us,” Damien smiled.
“Alright then,” Emily said, standing up, “We better get going then, since it’s a long walk back.”
“Gotcha! Thanks, Potato!” Aurora beamed as she grabbed her belongings and stood beside Emily.
“Let’s see how things work out, I guess…” Damien said simply.
Emily’s head was racing right now. As her two new friends walked beside her, she wondered whether everything was going to be ok. One thing she did know, her abnormal life just got even stranger.
Cheers sounded throughout, and the once dimly-lit area became bright and clear, the atmosphere just barely blinding. People – tons of them. They were all audience members for whatever kind of show was taking place here. The stage was in the centre of the crowd, the spectators seated in a ring around the stage, with multiple isles separating blocks of seats so people can walk to and from the stage if needed. The stage was mostly empty, aside from white a table and two white, comfy chairs. There was a woman sat in one of the seats: blond hair done up in a ponytail, glasses, pencil skirt. There were also multiple monitors hung up from the ceiling, each of them turned off. There were a few booths surrounded by red curtains, but not many. There was also an area closed off by another curtain. Behind it was a mess – dust and wooden crates were scattered around. Only one person was present. A girl, leaning on one of the boxes and breathing heavily. Her hair was tied up into four separate ponytails, causing it to hand down around her waist. It was held up not only by hair ties, but also by a pink hairband with a bow on the top. As well as this, her hair hung slightly over her tawny eyes. The colour was a space-blue with cerise-pink tips. She was wearing a short white dress with a blue ribbon around her waist and flowing from her short sleeves. Her white heels complimented her look, as well as her skin-coloured tights. Next to her was a black hoodie, which she had taken off not long ago. The girl gently kicked her heels against the box, twiddling her hair. Her nerves were through the roof, her heart beating faster, faster and faster still. She breathed in and out deeply, closing her eyes and listening to the constant chatter from outside the curtain. Almost instantly after, she opened her eyes and looked down at her hands.
“Come on, you can do this,” she said to herself, “this won’t be hard at all, so why the heck are you panicking? You've done worse than this, so stop shaking.”
“Miss Chino Yagami?”
A man came around the corner, clad in all black and white with earpieces in his ears and shades covering his eyes. He was holding a clipboard and a pen. He spoke in Japanese, but I’m sorting this out for you. Translation is my speciality. Anyways, Chino looked up at the man and took a deep breath in and out once more. She then replied to the man in his language.
“Yes, sir?”
“You’re on in just under a minute. Make sure you’re ready.”
“A-Alright, thank you.”
The man walked away as Chino lifted herself off the box and stood next to the small opening in the curtain. This was it, no backing down now. She knew this was going to happen someday, but she needed her poker face on. Before she could telepathically send her own brain more helpful words of advice, a loud voice sounded on the speakers next to her and also from the other side of the curtain. When Chino peeked through slightly, she could clearly see the monitors switch on and Japanese writing fly across the screen as it zoomed into the woman on the stage. Ah, Chino knew this app. It was the Japanese equivalent to YouTube (even though the Japanese still use YouTube) where comments from the app fly across the screen. These days, people use their earpieces to send these comments telepathically. It’s amazing how technology can create so many lazy people. Before long, Chino snapped back into reality as she heard her name ring out through the speakers.
“…I would like to welcome tonight’s guest on the show: the famous pop star, Chino Yagami!”
With that, Chino reluctantly stepped out from behind the curtain, as the cheers quickly followed. With a wave to a few areas of the crowd, she walked up to the stage and sat down opposite the woman. She crossed her right leg over her left and shyly put her hands on her lap. And yet, she gave the woman opposite her a confident smile.
“So, Chino,” the woman began, “It’s great to see you here today! You’ve been in the music industry for how long now?”
“Three years and a bit. It’ll be four years in December.”
“That certainly is a long time, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been around that long at all.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing. It’s really strange to be here today. I haven’t gotten used to this life after three years.”
“Completely understandable. Anyways, let’s here a little bit about yourself at home, maybe? I’m sure a lot of people watching this are curious.”
“Oh, absolutely! I’m an only child, so I’ve never had the luxury of having a sibling. Because of that, home life is pretty boring. I still have my parents, and I love them to death.”
“Did your parents help you get into music?”
“Yeah, they did. When a lot of things didn’t seem to be going my way, they helped me out a butt ton. They entered me into several beauty pageants and other competitions. I honestly couldn’t thank them enough.”
“So, I’m guessing your background is very rich?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Is working in the music industry hard for you?”
“Uh, not really. I’d just say it’s fun. Of course, I do more than just singing. As most people will know, I also voice act in various different anime. Of course, music is my main job.”
“Mhm. So, if you’ve grown up in a rich background, then is there a reason why you don’t own any earpieces? Almost everyone in the world owns a pair, and they’re extremely helpful for everyday tasks.”
“Here’s my opinion on these tiny pieces of tech. Sure, they’re good and they’re very helpful. However, my beliefs tell me that it’s very inhumane to have pieces of technology connected to our brain and transmit pieces of information to us. It doesn’t seem healthy to me. I would be fine with them if they helped disabilities more than mobile phones did, but they don’t seem to do so. They seem very pointless and energy-consuming compared to reading the news from your phone or even reading the newspaper. Most social media sites have moved to be compatible with these things, which makes it a lot harder for people who don’t have the money for them. I just think they’re a waste. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to force every person to remove them just because of my own values.”
“Understandable. You said earlier that you don’t have any siblings. If you did have, then what would be some traits you would want them to have?”
“Oh… Urm… I… I guess I would want them to be serious yet fun; someone I can talk to yet someone I can joke about with. They would be good at similar things to me, but not the same exact things. For example, since I love music and singing so much, my sibling would love dance or something like that. Then we would be able to go together like bread and butter. Also, I would be able to rely on them if I was in a bit of trouble, and vice-versa.”
Yeah, that seems reasonable. I would love to continue this a bit longer, but we don’t have much time here today. I’ll ask you one more question.”
“Ask away, ma’am.”
“We understand how there has been a lot of controversies lately about the events of the war between Humans and Werewolves. Some people have been questioning whether it was morally right to kill their species over one Werewolf. What do you think?”
“Uh… I’m going to try and give my opinion without offending people… Urm…”
Chino gave herself a moment to collect her thoughts. She looked down at her hands and twiddled her thumbs, thinking of something she could say. She needed to find a way around this question, but she knew she couldn’t. Instead, she decided to answer it this way…
“Nobody here can know for certain whether it was right or wrong. Let’s be real with ourselves here, nobody except the higher authorities have that information. We’re all being denied information on the matter, and we still have to report the fugitives when we don’t know who’s in the right. We can’t know for certain that this is morally right! There are two main possibilities – there could be more, but I’d rather not think about those. The first one is that the government is telling the truth. In that case, the Werewolves deserved eradication and the fugitives should be found as soon as possible. However, the other possibility is that the higher-ups of the world are lying to us. If that were the case, we wouldn’t be able to take back what has been done, but we would be able to help the fugitives seek justice and freedom any way possible. Of course, I… I highly doubt the second option is what happened, as t-trusting in our authorities is the best course of action. I-I mean, going against them would make you a v-v-vigilante, so let’s n-not do that…”
Chino felt her brain folding in on itself, her heart punching away at her mouth for saying such crap. Most of her statement was correct to her own feelings, but she hated herself for the end of it. Her eyes darted around to the audience, who seemed to be nodding in agreement with Chino’s monologue. Why would anyone agree with the bs that came out of her mouth?! Why would anyone believe things they don’t know about?! Chino continued to beat herself up, her conscience slowly eating away at her soul. The woman opposite her spoke up once again, allowing her to snap back into reality.
“Thank you very much for those wise words of wisdom, Chino. Sadly, that’s all the time we have for this interview, but thank you very much for being with us today.”
“N-No problem, it’s been a pleasure.”
“Give a big hand for Chino Yagami, everyone! Now, that’s all from us today, but next up is…”
Chino had already stood up and walked through the curtains without a single wave at the audience. She slumped back onto the box she was sat at before, sweat dripping down her forehead. Chino sighed and picked up her jacket, pulling it over her head, allowing it to sit on top of her dress. Chino then reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small photo frame. She clutched it tightly and spoke to the frame in English.
“You guys are probably so mad at me right now. Don’t worry, I’m mad at myself. I mean, the government telling the truth? Heck, they can’t even handle their own law enforcement properly. Knowing them, the whole war was a farce to make them more powerful. If I had my way, I’d charge over there and stab a knife in every single one of them… But then you would probably be like, ‘Oh my god you’re so useless! There’s no good in recklessness!’ Hehe… Mark my words, you two: I’ll find you and get things back on track.”
The door to the house of commons opened swiftly, as the people in the room stopped talking and looked towards the door.
“Am I interrupting anything, Prime Minister?”
“Of course you are… You’re late, again.”
“Sorry, I felt like having a stroll through the park before flying here in my private jet. Is that such a bad thing?”
“No, but it’s time-consuming,” Another person butted in, their French accent strong, “We’ve already started without you. We were worried you wouldn’t be coming.”
“As the person who brought Werewolves to light, Mr President of America,” A woman said, her accent was Chinese, “we expected you to be here first and foremost.”
“My apologies, everyone. I did not know my late arrival would be this much trouble for you all.”
With that, he sat in one of the vacant seats, two of his bodyguards sat behind him. The British MPs did not seem to be in the room. Today, this was only a meeting of the world’s leaders. Despite hating some of the people in the room, he knew desperate times called for desperate measures. As expected, the rest of the room was talking about the fugitives of the Wolven war (the name given to the war by the people). He of all people knew this topic didn’t matter anymore, so he sat and waited until he could bring his important information to the table. Before long, one of his bodyguards tapped him on the shoulder.
“Sir,” they whispered, “we seem to have lost Miss Harper and Mister Allison on the way here.”
“Ah, don’t worry about them,” he replied quietly, “Aurora isn’t much trouble, and Damien won’t do anything stupid. I raised him as my own, so he shouldn’t do anything I don’t approve of.”
“How can you be so sure, sir? I mean, you were the one who split him away from his younger sister and sent her to England.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. She’s perfectly fine! I send him information on her often, including hand-written letters.”
“But, sir, those letters are…”
“Oh, shut up, will you? I need to concentrate here.”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
The soldier backed away and left him alone. Damien and Aurora alone wouldn’t do anything, but would them together do so? Aurora joined his training regimen for new bodyguards as soon as she moved to his country from wherever she was beforehand. As he realised that he didn’t know much about Aurora’s heritage, he really hoped things wouldn’t go downwards. After a few thoughts, he shook it out of his mind. Nothing like that would change anything, anyway.
“…Mister president of America, do you have anything to add?” Someone asked, their accent strongly German.
“Hm? Have you finally finished talking about the fugitives?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, you know what I mean. I don’t care about them. The authorities are dealing with them, so we don’t need to worry. There are only a few of them left anyway, and most of them are in custody waiting to be transported to my country and be put on death row. No, I have more pressing issues to discuss with you all.”
“And what exactly would that be?” The prime minister of Britain asked.
“I mean another species planning to avenge Werewolf kind and kill off the Human race.”
“W-What?!” The room gasped in unison.
“You heard me.”
“And how did you obtain this information?” An Italian person enquired.
“Simple, my friend. I know people from all over, and someone managed to find the information in multiple Demon colonies. Feast your eyes on Exhibit A.”
As he announced that, he clapped his hands. His two bodyguards stood up and handed pictures around to each member of the house. There were multiple gasps of terror and some roars of outrage. The president of America just smiled slightly as the scene before him unfold.
“W-What kind of sick joke is this?” The French prime minister stammered.
“A-Are these blueprints…?” The Chinese president asked shakily.
“It’s exactly that, ma’am.” the president of America confirmed, “More specifically, these are blueprints for a nuclear weapon that we couldn’t even begin to understand. It’s made with a special kind of chemical to eradicate everyone who doesn’t have traces of a certain chemical in their system. In other words, this will eradicate every Human being in existence and leave everyone else unharmed. I can see that all of you believe we should do something about it. I can easily send my soldiers to…”
“There won’t be a need for that, sir,” The British prime minister informed him, “If it is alright with you, I would like to send in one of my own task forces to deal with the situation.”
“That is perfectly fine. If that is what you think the best course of action is, then it is.”
The rest of the room nodded and confirmed that it was ok to let the British handle the problem. The meeting was ended shortly afterwards. America’s president turned to one of his bodyguards once he had left the room.
“Send a message to Antonio and ask him to send a message through every single earpiece he’s ever made. People need to be aware of this problem as calmly as possible.”
“Come on, you can do this,” she said to herself, “this won’t be hard at all, so why the heck are you panicking? You've done worse than this, so stop shaking.”
“Miss Chino Yagami?”
A man came around the corner, clad in all black and white with earpieces in his ears and shades covering his eyes. He was holding a clipboard and a pen. He spoke in Japanese, but I’m sorting this out for you. Translation is my speciality. Anyways, Chino looked up at the man and took a deep breath in and out once more. She then replied to the man in his language.
“Yes, sir?”
“You’re on in just under a minute. Make sure you’re ready.”
“A-Alright, thank you.”
The man walked away as Chino lifted herself off the box and stood next to the small opening in the curtain. This was it, no backing down now. She knew this was going to happen someday, but she needed her poker face on. Before she could telepathically send her own brain more helpful words of advice, a loud voice sounded on the speakers next to her and also from the other side of the curtain. When Chino peeked through slightly, she could clearly see the monitors switch on and Japanese writing fly across the screen as it zoomed into the woman on the stage. Ah, Chino knew this app. It was the Japanese equivalent to YouTube (even though the Japanese still use YouTube) where comments from the app fly across the screen. These days, people use their earpieces to send these comments telepathically. It’s amazing how technology can create so many lazy people. Before long, Chino snapped back into reality as she heard her name ring out through the speakers.
“…I would like to welcome tonight’s guest on the show: the famous pop star, Chino Yagami!”
With that, Chino reluctantly stepped out from behind the curtain, as the cheers quickly followed. With a wave to a few areas of the crowd, she walked up to the stage and sat down opposite the woman. She crossed her right leg over her left and shyly put her hands on her lap. And yet, she gave the woman opposite her a confident smile.
“So, Chino,” the woman began, “It’s great to see you here today! You’ve been in the music industry for how long now?”
“Three years and a bit. It’ll be four years in December.”
“That certainly is a long time, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been around that long at all.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing. It’s really strange to be here today. I haven’t gotten used to this life after three years.”
“Completely understandable. Anyways, let’s here a little bit about yourself at home, maybe? I’m sure a lot of people watching this are curious.”
“Oh, absolutely! I’m an only child, so I’ve never had the luxury of having a sibling. Because of that, home life is pretty boring. I still have my parents, and I love them to death.”
“Did your parents help you get into music?”
“Yeah, they did. When a lot of things didn’t seem to be going my way, they helped me out a butt ton. They entered me into several beauty pageants and other competitions. I honestly couldn’t thank them enough.”
“So, I’m guessing your background is very rich?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Is working in the music industry hard for you?”
“Uh, not really. I’d just say it’s fun. Of course, I do more than just singing. As most people will know, I also voice act in various different anime. Of course, music is my main job.”
“Mhm. So, if you’ve grown up in a rich background, then is there a reason why you don’t own any earpieces? Almost everyone in the world owns a pair, and they’re extremely helpful for everyday tasks.”
“Here’s my opinion on these tiny pieces of tech. Sure, they’re good and they’re very helpful. However, my beliefs tell me that it’s very inhumane to have pieces of technology connected to our brain and transmit pieces of information to us. It doesn’t seem healthy to me. I would be fine with them if they helped disabilities more than mobile phones did, but they don’t seem to do so. They seem very pointless and energy-consuming compared to reading the news from your phone or even reading the newspaper. Most social media sites have moved to be compatible with these things, which makes it a lot harder for people who don’t have the money for them. I just think they’re a waste. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to force every person to remove them just because of my own values.”
“Understandable. You said earlier that you don’t have any siblings. If you did have, then what would be some traits you would want them to have?”
“Oh… Urm… I… I guess I would want them to be serious yet fun; someone I can talk to yet someone I can joke about with. They would be good at similar things to me, but not the same exact things. For example, since I love music and singing so much, my sibling would love dance or something like that. Then we would be able to go together like bread and butter. Also, I would be able to rely on them if I was in a bit of trouble, and vice-versa.”
Yeah, that seems reasonable. I would love to continue this a bit longer, but we don’t have much time here today. I’ll ask you one more question.”
“Ask away, ma’am.”
“We understand how there has been a lot of controversies lately about the events of the war between Humans and Werewolves. Some people have been questioning whether it was morally right to kill their species over one Werewolf. What do you think?”
“Uh… I’m going to try and give my opinion without offending people… Urm…”
Chino gave herself a moment to collect her thoughts. She looked down at her hands and twiddled her thumbs, thinking of something she could say. She needed to find a way around this question, but she knew she couldn’t. Instead, she decided to answer it this way…
“Nobody here can know for certain whether it was right or wrong. Let’s be real with ourselves here, nobody except the higher authorities have that information. We’re all being denied information on the matter, and we still have to report the fugitives when we don’t know who’s in the right. We can’t know for certain that this is morally right! There are two main possibilities – there could be more, but I’d rather not think about those. The first one is that the government is telling the truth. In that case, the Werewolves deserved eradication and the fugitives should be found as soon as possible. However, the other possibility is that the higher-ups of the world are lying to us. If that were the case, we wouldn’t be able to take back what has been done, but we would be able to help the fugitives seek justice and freedom any way possible. Of course, I… I highly doubt the second option is what happened, as t-trusting in our authorities is the best course of action. I-I mean, going against them would make you a v-v-vigilante, so let’s n-not do that…”
Chino felt her brain folding in on itself, her heart punching away at her mouth for saying such crap. Most of her statement was correct to her own feelings, but she hated herself for the end of it. Her eyes darted around to the audience, who seemed to be nodding in agreement with Chino’s monologue. Why would anyone agree with the bs that came out of her mouth?! Why would anyone believe things they don’t know about?! Chino continued to beat herself up, her conscience slowly eating away at her soul. The woman opposite her spoke up once again, allowing her to snap back into reality.
“Thank you very much for those wise words of wisdom, Chino. Sadly, that’s all the time we have for this interview, but thank you very much for being with us today.”
“N-No problem, it’s been a pleasure.”
“Give a big hand for Chino Yagami, everyone! Now, that’s all from us today, but next up is…”
Chino had already stood up and walked through the curtains without a single wave at the audience. She slumped back onto the box she was sat at before, sweat dripping down her forehead. Chino sighed and picked up her jacket, pulling it over her head, allowing it to sit on top of her dress. Chino then reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small photo frame. She clutched it tightly and spoke to the frame in English.
“You guys are probably so mad at me right now. Don’t worry, I’m mad at myself. I mean, the government telling the truth? Heck, they can’t even handle their own law enforcement properly. Knowing them, the whole war was a farce to make them more powerful. If I had my way, I’d charge over there and stab a knife in every single one of them… But then you would probably be like, ‘Oh my god you’re so useless! There’s no good in recklessness!’ Hehe… Mark my words, you two: I’ll find you and get things back on track.”
The door to the house of commons opened swiftly, as the people in the room stopped talking and looked towards the door.
“Am I interrupting anything, Prime Minister?”
“Of course you are… You’re late, again.”
“Sorry, I felt like having a stroll through the park before flying here in my private jet. Is that such a bad thing?”
“No, but it’s time-consuming,” Another person butted in, their French accent strong, “We’ve already started without you. We were worried you wouldn’t be coming.”
“As the person who brought Werewolves to light, Mr President of America,” A woman said, her accent was Chinese, “we expected you to be here first and foremost.”
“My apologies, everyone. I did not know my late arrival would be this much trouble for you all.”
With that, he sat in one of the vacant seats, two of his bodyguards sat behind him. The British MPs did not seem to be in the room. Today, this was only a meeting of the world’s leaders. Despite hating some of the people in the room, he knew desperate times called for desperate measures. As expected, the rest of the room was talking about the fugitives of the Wolven war (the name given to the war by the people). He of all people knew this topic didn’t matter anymore, so he sat and waited until he could bring his important information to the table. Before long, one of his bodyguards tapped him on the shoulder.
“Sir,” they whispered, “we seem to have lost Miss Harper and Mister Allison on the way here.”
“Ah, don’t worry about them,” he replied quietly, “Aurora isn’t much trouble, and Damien won’t do anything stupid. I raised him as my own, so he shouldn’t do anything I don’t approve of.”
“How can you be so sure, sir? I mean, you were the one who split him away from his younger sister and sent her to England.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. She’s perfectly fine! I send him information on her often, including hand-written letters.”
“But, sir, those letters are…”
“Oh, shut up, will you? I need to concentrate here.”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
The soldier backed away and left him alone. Damien and Aurora alone wouldn’t do anything, but would them together do so? Aurora joined his training regimen for new bodyguards as soon as she moved to his country from wherever she was beforehand. As he realised that he didn’t know much about Aurora’s heritage, he really hoped things wouldn’t go downwards. After a few thoughts, he shook it out of his mind. Nothing like that would change anything, anyway.
“…Mister president of America, do you have anything to add?” Someone asked, their accent strongly German.
“Hm? Have you finally finished talking about the fugitives?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, you know what I mean. I don’t care about them. The authorities are dealing with them, so we don’t need to worry. There are only a few of them left anyway, and most of them are in custody waiting to be transported to my country and be put on death row. No, I have more pressing issues to discuss with you all.”
“And what exactly would that be?” The prime minister of Britain asked.
“I mean another species planning to avenge Werewolf kind and kill off the Human race.”
“W-What?!” The room gasped in unison.
“You heard me.”
“And how did you obtain this information?” An Italian person enquired.
“Simple, my friend. I know people from all over, and someone managed to find the information in multiple Demon colonies. Feast your eyes on Exhibit A.”
As he announced that, he clapped his hands. His two bodyguards stood up and handed pictures around to each member of the house. There were multiple gasps of terror and some roars of outrage. The president of America just smiled slightly as the scene before him unfold.
“W-What kind of sick joke is this?” The French prime minister stammered.
“A-Are these blueprints…?” The Chinese president asked shakily.
“It’s exactly that, ma’am.” the president of America confirmed, “More specifically, these are blueprints for a nuclear weapon that we couldn’t even begin to understand. It’s made with a special kind of chemical to eradicate everyone who doesn’t have traces of a certain chemical in their system. In other words, this will eradicate every Human being in existence and leave everyone else unharmed. I can see that all of you believe we should do something about it. I can easily send my soldiers to…”
“There won’t be a need for that, sir,” The British prime minister informed him, “If it is alright with you, I would like to send in one of my own task forces to deal with the situation.”
“That is perfectly fine. If that is what you think the best course of action is, then it is.”
The rest of the room nodded and confirmed that it was ok to let the British handle the problem. The meeting was ended shortly afterwards. America’s president turned to one of his bodyguards once he had left the room.
“Send a message to Antonio and ask him to send a message through every single earpiece he’s ever made. People need to be aware of this problem as calmly as possible.”
Last edited:
