Chapter 10

Callum leaves the group, Josh and Lolly talk in the middle of the night about everything. There's a new police officer in Industrictus, and along with the head of police must stop two thieves.

Chapter 10

 

“So... what were you doing in the woods, exactly?” Molly questioned as the group continued down the path from Puteulus to Aurin Village.  Although it was well into the night, Callum had suggested they keep going as it was only another half hour before they arrived at the village and could get accommodation.  Saved them camping.  But still, neither of the six were exactly... accustomed to long walks (or much exercise at all), so they were all... tired.  Not that anyone, besides Anna and Molly a few times, was complaining.  After the attack by Glacird earlier in the evening, they were all very eager to reach somewhere that had a roof.

 

“Training.” Callum replied simply, not looking around, dark eyes continuing to look everywhere possible for a sign of trouble, “Even though I don’t want to harm Praestia, there is no way of developing Serpictus’ powers without fighting.  The way of the world, as Josh would know.”  Josh simply scratched his head awkwardly as Tom glanced to him. 

 

Molly frowned slightly, “Okaaaay, you’re talking like you actually live here.  How long have you been here?  And... why?  And why did you save us?”

 

Callum glanced over his shoulder at the small girl, replying, “Longer than you... and as I’ve already said, I have absolutely no idea.  As for the third question... not only is that absolutely ridiculous considering you’re my friends... your frozen bodies would’ve made the road look ugly... No big deal.” He smirked briefly to show he was joking, before continuing to lead the five to Aurin Village, which was growing ever closer.  Silence fell, only interrupted by yet another cry of ‘are we nearly there yeeeet?’ from a certain duck-loving Anna.

 

Just under half an hour later, the six walked into a rather small and poor looking village.  It was hardly even a village, as it consisted of maybe a dozen buildings.  Callum led them straight to what was most likely the largest building of the place, with a sign marked ‘The Aurin Inn’.  It was about eleven in the evening now, and as they pulled the wooden doors open to enter, the innkeeper seemed rather surprised to see them.  The young and cheerful pink-headed lady immediately perked up, standing up straight and smiling at them.  “Welcome to Aurin Village, and to the Aurin Inn!  Are you looking to stay for the night?”

 

Callum pulled a wad of foreign-looking money from his pocket, placing it on the counter, saying in a rather cold voice, “For these five... two rooms, one for three, one for two.”  The lady began typing something on an old-fashioned typewriter on the counter.  When she looked up, however, Callum was already wandering away.

 

“Where the hell are you going?” Tom questioned with a frown, causing the boy to stop and look back.

 

“I have business to do.” He replied simply, giving them a half-wave before leaving through the wooden doors, leaving them alone in the foreign inn.

 

“I still think he has awesome hair.” Anna commented.

 

*             *             *

 

The hours passed after the five split into their two side-by-side rooms.  Josh and Tom were in one, and Lolly, Molly and Anna were in the other.  It was well past midnight now, yet the balcony overlooking the tiny village was still occupied by one who was not asleep.  Dressed in his night clothes and slippers on his feet, Josh looked out across the small area that was Aurin Village, and out into the distance.  He was facing north, and he could make out the tall factories and other buildings of Industrictus quite far away.  Before that though, was the largest forest of Otellus, a mass of tall and beautiful trees all packed together.  If not for the sometimes complicated trail that led through the forest without disturbing a single tree, it’d be near impossible to navigate.  Years before, a large group of people had set off through it, tired of travelling by sea or walking around it.  It had taken them days, and several deaths, before they finally emerged on the other side. 

 

Since then, the forest had become a popular tourist location for those who either wanted to bond with or watch Praestia in their natural habitat.  There was no longer as much fear of getting lost.  It was still a dangerous place, for Praestia were unpredictable, and in the dark of the forest, it can be rather easy to wander off trail by accident.  But the amount of people that go missing in there had decreased substantially.  And that was always good.  The sound of a door opening caused Josh to turn his head to see Lolly emerging from the other room to join him on the balcony.  The shocking news was that she’d manage to finally buy a pair of shoes in Puteulus before they had left, and there were no longer any twigs randomly in her hair. 

 

She came to a stop beside him, and Josh stifled a laugh to see she could barely even see over the fairly tall balcony.  There was the sound of an owl in the distance, before Lolly spoke in perhaps too loud a voice for past midnight, “Whatcha doing?”

 

“Looking at the big forest over there.  I kinda just made up a whole history about it, too.” Josh replied in a more gentle tone, “I wonder if that’s now become... real.  I guess I’ll ask around town tomorrow, it’ll be quite cool if I can just... make that kinda stuff up and it decides to just happen.”  Lolly stood on her tip-toes to get a better view of the forest, “It needs a name too...  Eh, Aurin Forest will do. I bet a signpost just poofed in front of that now to say ‘Welcome to Aurin Forest, please mind your step’.  I love this place.”

 

“Well, aren’t you modest?” Lolly laughed, before it faded and her voice became serious, “In seriousness, what do you actually think about being here?”

 

Josh glanced down at her, a frown crossing his face, “Hm?  Eh... I’m not sure.  I mean, I know deep inside that it’s probably gonna be dangerous, but right now... well, I still think I’m dreaming.” Lolly suddenly whacked him hard on the arm, “Holy sh- ...Jesus, what was that for?  Oh... Oh. Right.  Thank you?  I think...  But... like... I know what’s gonna happen.  Or at least, I think I do.  But... when Glacird attacked back there, I apparently forgot what was going on. I wasn’t able to warn you until it was too late... It’s like something’s controlling me so I don’t stop the stuff happening.”  He frowned to himself, knowing the real reason for why he forgot.  Whoever ‘the writer’ was apparently didn’t find it very fun to have a main character prepared for what was happening.  He even added a character to the story...

 

Lolly gave a light shrug, “Well, to be fair... I think that even if you did remember, it wouldn’t have done much anyway.  Glacird would’ve still almost made us into ice lollies.  Me, particularly, eheh.” Josh gave her a sideward frown at the joke, before shaking his head, “But anyway... well, nothing you can do ‘bout it so don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be fine.  Unless you decided to kill us off, of course.”  When Josh didn’t answer, Lolly’s smile turned to a glare as she looked to Josh, “...None of us die, right?”

 

“Well... erm...” He hesitates, before deciding to lie, “I hardly wrote any of the story, remember? Anything could happen.  It’ll be fine.”  Although Lolly relaxed, the writer himself was now very worried about what he’d planned for the story.

 

*             *             *

 

Meanwhile, in Silagost, the capital city of Industrictus, a dirty blonde haired boy wearing a uniform entered the police station.  He looked around with a slight frown, seeing there were only three officers currently there.  One, a middle-aged man, was at the desk on the phone.  One, a young woman, was typing something on a computer.  Finally, the other young man was stood outside a door, appearing on guard.  “...Hello?” The boy asked rather nervously, and the brunette at the computer looked up, stern dark eyes examining the teenager ahead of her.  She pushed away from the computer, climbing to her feet and approaching the boy.

 

“Ah, welcome.” She said, shaking his hand tightly, “I assume you are our new officer?  Welcome to Silagost, and thank you for being...” She quickly glanced at the watch on her wrist, a single eyebrow rising, “Early.  Well done... a good first impression.  Anyway, I am Coral, and I am in charge of the Industrictus police force.  I trust you are ready to begin your training?”

 

The boy gave a nod, smiling weakly as he pulled his hand back, “A pleasure to meet you, ma’am.  And yes, I am ready whenever you are...  Oh, and in case you forgot, my name is-“

 

A high-pitched scream interrupted his introduction, followed by deep laughter.  Coral quickly ran towards the door, shouting, “Seems you’re training will be real action!  Luckily I know your name already.  Come, Constable, let’s see how good you are.” The new constable looked surprised, before following Coral out the door, pulling out a fancy looking red gem from his shirt pocket.  The two police officers hurried out the station and into the streets of Silagost, following the direction the scream had come from.  Silagost was in the southern half of Industrictus, fairly close to the northern borders of Aurin Forest and right next to the western sea.  In typical Industrictus fashion, the buildings were mostly tall, grey and dull.  The streets were tight, the main ones usually clogged full of crowds.  There were very few tourists to this region, so all these people were residents and workers.   Overall, it wasn’t the most pleasant place to live in.

 

The two eventually turned into an alleyway, where they saw two dark-clothed men advancing on a young girl, who had a tabby kitten at her feet. The girl was crying, while the two men were laughing.  “Hand over your Praestia, sweetheart.” The man on the left sneered, not noticing Coral and the boy approaching from behind, “And nobody gets hurt...”  The girl continued backing away, so the man continued, “...Either that, or we simply force it from you.  Which would you rather, hm?”

 

“B-But... but why?” The little girl whimpered, crouching down to hug the tabby close, “M-Meowmeow’s mine!  Daddy gave him to me...”

 

“We don’t care whether Estellia herself gave ‘Meowmeow’ to you!” The second, a rather scrawny looking man, snapped, advancing further on the girl.  “We are agents of Mortalitas, under Lord Xagraver himself... and we are ordering you to give over your Praestia now!” The girl still backed away, fat tears streaming down her young face.  “It is now the property of one of the Praedux Masters; you are defying the law by resisting.  Hand it over, immediately!  Attack, Tenird!”

 

A small sparrow-like bird suddenly appeared from above, darting down towards the little cat.  “Enough!” Coral shouted, causing the two criminals to spin around, wide-eyed.  A large Bengal tiger pounced seemingly from nowhere, landing in front of the kitten and easily withstanding the sparrow’s dive.  Coral and the boy moved closer, a jet black panther snarling menacingly by the latter’s side.  “...A panther.  Pretty impressive...”

 

“And what do you want, lady?” The first man grunted, folding his arms.

 

“You will leave that girl alone.” Coral said in a fierce tone, pointing just to add dramatic effect, “Leave now, or we will be forced to take legal action.  So... I suggest you leave.” The two Mortalitas grunts simply exchanged glances, before bursting out laughing.

 

“Your Praestia may be bigger, lady,” The first grunt chortled, “But do you think they’d even stand a chance against the might of Mortalitas and Lord Xagraver?  Stand down... no. In fact, give us your Praestia and we will leave the girl alone.”

 

Coral smiled genuinely, and the tiger growled, “I think not... but I thank you for the very kind offer.  Let’s get this over with.  Accigre, let’s put a new meaning to the order ‘Freeze.’  Go!”  The white ear-ring on her right ear immediately glowed, as did the tiger.  Shards of ice flew from its mouth towards the bird, which with surprising speed, ducked down to avoid the attack.  The bird then turned silver, almost metallic, before diving down.  It flew too fast for the tiger to dodge, and the large cat was sent flying into the wall with a roar of pain.  “What the heck was that?!”

 

The grunt smiled rather chillingly, “You see, Xagraver’s scientists have been working on some more... unique powers for Praestia.  Some can control time, some can transform into any animal, or person, they want...  Mine?  Mine is something similar to that... It can turn into whatever material I want it to.  Wood, stone, acid... Metal.  Bit of a higher defence, don’t you think?”

 

The second grunt gave a laugh, “Indeed... but that’s just his.  Face the power of my Giovato!”  A snow white, rather dirty looking rat appeared at the scrawny man’s feet, baring its sharp fangs.  “I suppose you want to know what power it has, yes?  Allow me to demonstrate...” Suddenly, the rat vanished.  Coral frowned, looking around for it, but there was no sign.  Suddenly, Accigre gave a roar of pain, and the rat reappeared on top of the cat’s head, fangs sunk into its ear.

 

“Your Praestia may have fancy powers...” Coral said coldly, seeming to feel Accigre’s pain as she shivered, “But you forget the true power behind them... the bond with their Praestia!  Accigre, show these fools what a real Praestia can do!”

 

*             *             *

 

“Is anyone awake?” Molly gave a loud groan as she opened her eyes, trying to register what was going on.  Eventually, she sighed in irritation as she realised where she was.  “Hello?”

 

“What do you want, Anna?” The young girl snapped, head flopping back against her pillow.  She looked to the alarm clock on the small table beside her bed, seeing it was about two in the morning, “...Oh, okay, it’s not actually that late.  What’s wrong?”  She looked over to Lolly’s bed, seeing it was empty, and that the curtains were drawn.  She could make out two figures outside on the balcony, and assumed them to be Lolly and one of the boys.  She pushed herself back up to a sitting position, rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly.  The other girl was sat cross-legged on her bed, still wearing sunglasses for some strange reason.  Though that was less unusual than the agonisingly bright yellow onesie she was wearing that was easily visible even in pitch black.

 

“Yay, Molly!” Anna squealed, causing Molly to wince slightly, before she continued, “You’re awake!  And I’m awake. We’re both awake!  Whenever I asked that question back home, I had pillows thrown at me... it was so mean, cause like, I just wanted to talk! And talking in the middle of the night is always fun cause we can share ghost stories, and have pillow fights, and have midnight stacks, and eat loads of candy...  It’s like a slumber party in another world!  And we get to do it eeeevery night... and oh, oh! Do we get to go camping?!  Can we roast marshmallows over a fire and sing camping songs?!  And-“

 

“..Somebody kill me now...” Molly groaned, curling up into a ball and forcing the pillow tightly over her ears as she tried in vain to get back to sleep.  The door of the balcony suddenly opened, and Lolly tiptoed back in.

 

“Lolly!” Anna suddenly shouted loudly, causing the girl to accidentally slam the door shut, making the glass rattle rather worryingly.  There was a loud bang on the wall from the two boys’ room, and the muffled voice of Tom sounded, though it was inaudible.  It did cause a picture frame to bounce off the wall though, almost smashing on Anna’s head. Not that she noticed.  “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly!  Hey, you have an awesome name... Just like Callum had awesome hair!  That makes Molly the odd one out, she has nothing awesome.”

 

Lolly stared at the girl warily as she climbed into her bed, “Yeah... uh... what?”

 

“Molly and I were just talking!” Anna exclaimed brightly, apparently oblivious to the other two girls’ attempt at going back to sleep.

“I gathered...” Lolly replied, stifling a yawn, “Where are you from, Anna?”

 

“Well, my parents said I’m an alien.”  Anna paused, biting her lip deep in thought, “And I wanna be from Neptune... so I’m from Pluto.”

 

“...What?”

 

“I’m joking, geez!” Anna sighed over-dramatically, before saying, “In all seriousness...  I’m from the midlands.  My house is surrounded by sheep and ducks, it’s awesome.” Her lip trembles suddenly, “I miss it so much.”

 

“Oh, for god’s sake, are you serious?” Molly suddenly snapped, reappearing from her pillow, “Just go to sleep. You have a freaking duck with you now, go hug it or something.”  And for the third time, her head flopped back down on the pillow.”

 

Lolly smirked, before asking more seriously, “No, but... I dunno, why are you here? None of us have even met you before.  Are you like... this is rather awkward... but are you real?”  She looked up from her hands, only to frown when she saw Anna’s bed now empty, “...Er, Anna?”  There was no answer, except a muffled ‘thank god’ from Molly on the opposite side of the room.  Lolly frowned, now seeming rather worried, looking around, “Seriously, the lunatic just vani-“

 

“BOO!” Lolly screamed loudly, causing another louder thump from the boys’ room.

 

“SHUT UP!” Tom roared, causing Lolly to wince.

 

“Hahahaha!” Anna began laughing loudly, flopping down on the bed next to Lolly, “I scared you, I scared youuuuu... And last time I did that, I got another pillow thrown at me... people are so mean...”

 

“Yeah, they are.” Molly muttered, before suddenly throwing a pillow across the room, smacking Anna right in the face.

 

*             *             *

 

Marcel smirked from the shadows, watching as the boy and girl up on the balcony walked back inside.  He looked to the watch on his wrist, and soon the old face of Xagraver appeared.  He bowed his head, “Lord Xagraver...  Targets have been located.  We attack tomorrow.”

 

“Excellent...” Xagraver smirked back, before saying, “Remember... scare them, do not kill them.  Let them know the power of Mortalitas.”

 

“Of course.” The green-haired leader nodded, before clicking off, chuckling darkly as he returned into the shadows.