It wore off, thankfully. Shortly before I had returned to the Safe Haven, my horns, tail, wings, and even my eyepatch had mysteriously disappeared, and I had gone back to my human form. Destiny's Song was also returned to its rightful place, strapped to my back. But this time, Jeremy showed me how to activate its cloaking setting, so that I could still feel it there, but no one else could see it or even touch it.
There was no doubt Levin was surprised to see Jeremy walk through the front door carrying one of the Midnight Legion's members. But the look Jeremy gave his little brother told him not to ask any questions.
"He looks hurt," Levin said obviously.
"He is," said Jeremy. Not only had I gone back to normal, but also the vulgarness that surrounded Jeremy's right eye had vanished without a trace. He peered into his brother's eyes sternly, and angrily muttered the words, "Go get Gabriel."
Levin nodded rapidly and disappeared down the staircase without a word. Moments later, both he and the black cat had joined us at Niall's side.
"Oh, dear, this doesn't look good." Gabriel shook his head sorrowfully, then his gaze met mine. "Hello again, Hanako."
"I'm not speaking to you."
"Ah, yes, I expected as much," he said disappointedly. "Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I'm not going to ask, because I know you have your reasons, Ironmage, but first thing's first, we need to get this man some medical help. Uh, ahem, Niall? Can you hear me?"
Niall didn't respond. He just lay there, completely silent and motionless.
"Is there anything you can do?" Levin asked hopefully.
Gabriel let out a deep sigh and cocked his head to the side. "Unfortunately, I don't know how to mend wounds. And if these wounds were made by Destiny's Song..." The cat paused and let the last two words trail off. "...then there's only one person who can cure him."
For some odd reason, everyone stared at me, which only aggravated me more. "What's that look for?" I snapped.
"Did I ever tell you about how special you are, Hanako?"
"I don't need your encouragement, nor do I want it, stupid cat."
"You can mend wounds with that sword of yours as well," he explained. "Not sickness, mind you, but merely flesh wounds. If you would just concentrate, I'm sure you could get it to work. Care to give it a try?"
"I'm a monster!" I yelled furiously. "I'm not a freakin' miracle worker. Find someone else to do it!" After my brief tantrum, I stormed outside, where the weather had returned to its usual, freakishly unstable state.
Dangit...this is probably because of the condition Niall's in...
At the time, though, I really didn't care. I just wanted to get away from them. And so I did. But I didn't go too far. Just about 20 yards from the Safe Haven, somewhere beside a small cliff. "Those idiots...what do they think I am? Their tool? They're using me, that's all...yeah, well screw them." I plopped myself down on the ground and dug down deep in my pant pocket. Figures...my phone isn't here... I didn't know why I expected to find it there, but for some reason I was extremely disappointed that it wasn't. I doubted that anyone had tried to contact me anyway, yet it still made me discouraged.
For about what seemed like half an hour, I sat out in the frigid cold air, simply to be alone with my thoughts. But I was soon interrupted by a certain little boy who was coming towards me, waving his hand in the air. "Hanako!" Levin shouted. "I have something for you!"
"I don't want it," I muttered, once he was close enough to hear me.
"I'll leave you alone, but first I want to give you this." Levin stretched out his hand and generously revealed that he was holding my cell phone. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you at first, but I took it out of your pocket so it wouldn't get damaged. I'm sorry, so here. Take it."
My eyes grew wide with a sense of astonishment as I reached out my quivering hand to take the phone. I flipped it open and stared in disbelief at the notification that popped up on the screen.
107 messages from Morgan Owens
54 missed calls from Morgan Owens
These following were just a few of the messages he sent me, along with my mind's response.
Message 1:
Hanako...where did you run off to? Your mom is worried sick. Same with me. After that weird incident at the courthouse tho, I understand if you were frightened. I heard all about it, and I still can't imagine how you must have felt to witness it. But plz come back. I need to know if ur alright.
Morgan, I'm sorry.
Message 2:
Hanako. Where are u??
I'm just outside of Bluegate, but I don't think it's safe for you to come.
Message 22:
Will u come back already? If you don't respond soon I'll suspect that ur dead! Your mom already does
I sure feel dead...
Message 36:
Hanako. If you don't come back here this instant I'm gonna cry. And I know how u feel about it when I cry. I'm supposed to be a man, I know. You've told me so many times. But how am I supposed to stay strong if you're not here to help me? I'm a mess without u.
Don't you dare cry. I feel bad enough already.
Message 49:
Have you forgotten about Aki?!?! Your own little brother?!? The poor kid is heartbroken, and your mother said she found him locked in the closet, crying, "HANA'S LEFT ME. JUST LIKE DADDY DID." Will u come back before something drastic happens?? Please. I'm begging u.
Protect him for me. I can't come back.
Message 66:
I found Aki crying alone again.
Be a good big brother to him for me...
Message 87:
I realize I'm sending you a lot of messages in a short amount of time, but it's been two days and I'm a total wreck. Come back.
You think you're a total wreck?
Message 91:
Have u been abducted by demons or something? Don't tell me u went outside the city walls... Oh geez I sure hope not...
Only you would suspect something like that, Morgan. But yes, I'm outside the city walls.
Message 107:
I'm worried about u. Plz. Just one call is all I'm asking for. That's all your mother wants. That's all Aki needs. Call me back as soon as you can.
I could feel my hand beginning to shake like crazy, causing the tears that had begun to stream down my face just barely miss my phone as they fell to the ground. "Morgan...you..." I hesitantly pressed the 'respond' button, and tentatively sent Morgan a message.
Hey. I'm sorry, Morgan, for running off. I hope you're not mad at me.
Shortly after, I became sorely disappointed once I realized that there was no way on earth that my message would reach him in a place like this. Stupid satellites...
"Hey, Hanako. Try that inside. It should work better," Levin suggested. "I-I mean, you don't have to come back if you don't want to. But Jeremy told me to check on you." He leaned over and peered at my screen. "I don't mean to be nosy, but who's Morgan? You have a lot of missed calls from her. Is she your girlfriend or something?"
"Morgan is a guy," I sighed.
"Oh. Sorry," he chuckled nervously. "Anyway, you won't get any phone service out here, ya know. Come inside and you should be good."
I let out another heavy sigh and soon headed back with Levin to the Safe Haven.
"Go ahead and try sending that message again," Levin told me after he had shut and locked the front door. "It should work now."
I did what he said, and to my satisfaction, it did work. My message sent instantly, and not a second later, my phone began to ring. I shot Levin a worried glance. Smiling, he gestured for me to answer it. I swallowed my breath and clicked the 'answer call' button, then, with a quivering voice, I said, "H-hello...?"
"OH MY GOSH!!! HANAKO, IS THAT YOU?! AM I DREAMING?!? IS THIS REALLY YOU?!?"
I reached up my hand to quiet his booming voice through the receiver, as well as to wipe the tears out of my eyes. "Yeah, Morgan, it's me."
As it turns out, I wasn't the only one who had started crying. Morgan threw a fit and began shouting random nonsense into the phone. It took me a while to calm him down. "Morgan, relax, alright? Please. I'm fine, I swear. So stop crying." I am most certainly not fine. "How's my mom doing? How's Aki?"
"They're not good," he said in complete honesty. "I don't care what you say about your mom, Hanako. She still loves you very much. You need to come back, Hanako. They need you. I need you."
"I can't go back to Bluegate," I told him.
"What do you mean you can't go back to Bluegate?! You have to! Don't you care about us at all?"
"Of course I do, Morgan. You know I do. It's just...well, you see, I-"
Before I had the chance to explain myself, Jeremy had snatched the phone from my hands and said something awful to Morgan.
"Listen, kid, your friend isn't coming home, so quit pestering him."
"Jeremy!!"
"H-huh?!" Morgan exclaimed. "Who are you? What have you done with Hanako?!?"
"I locked him in a basement that is deep underground and he's chained up right now to a very uncomfortable metal table. I have my torture devices set in neat rows right in front of me—I just bought them from a black market, so they're brand new—and I'm about to test them out on Hanako. Poor guy. He's sweatin' like a pig. It's rather disgusting. The little brat...ah, well. I going to carve out his heart and serve it to my guests. I'm sorry, but I don't have enough room at my table for you to join. Maybe some other time, ok?"
There was silence on the other side of the phone, and I had suspected that Morgan had fainted. But I was soon proved mistaken as I heard a rather dark, devilish sounding voice on the other line.
"I've tracked your call. I'm coming to get Hanako."
Then, he hung up.
Jeremy looked legitimately terrified. His little prank had turned on him, or so it appeared. Serves him right, I thought. Either way, I was downright furious with him.
"What did you do that for, you stupid cyborg?!"
"He...he...G-Gabriel...is it possible to trace a call to the Safe Haven...?" Jeremy said quietly, as if he didn't want me to hear.
"To the Safe Haven?" said Gabriel. Jeremy nodded. "Oh, yes, indeed it is. My lair is protected, but outside of it, oh, yeah, sure. Absolutely possible."
"Not much of a Safe Haven now, is it, cyborg," I growled. "It's very likely that Morgan is on his way as we speak."
Jeremy was speechless for a moment, his eyes wide in shock. He bit his lip and closed my phone, then slowly handed it over to me. "Oops."
+++
He did it. He actually did it. Morgan somehow found the location of the Safe Haven, and was now sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed and a pissed look on his face. There was a duffel bag sitting beside him, one he brought along that was apparently packed with clothes and few of his belongings. Thankfully, we managed to wipe the blood and dirt off Niall's face to avoid suspicion before Morgan arrived, but the demon was still unconscious. The entire room was silent for a while. Awkwardly silent. So I decided to break the ice.
"Uh, M-Morgan, I can explain..." I began, but he soon cut me off.
"Who in here was responsible for that call?" He said. "You had me scared half to death, Hanako."
"It was Jeremy," I said, pointing to the culprit. He shot me a scary look.
"Hello, Jeremy," Morgan said calmly, which only put Jeremy further on edge.
"Uh, h-hello, Morgan..." He gulped.
"I hope you know that I'm taking Hanako back to Bluegate with me."
"Morgan..." I immediately caught his attention as I tugged at his sleeve. He turned his head and gazed at me with sympathetic eyes. "I can never go back to Bluegate. Not after what's happened to me over the last couple of days."
"W-what are you saying?!" He cried. "What the heck is wrong with you? Are these idiots blackmailing you?"
"Calm down."
Morgan took a deep breath and relaxed his tense shoulders, then said, "I'm sorry. But why? Why can't you come back?"
"If I went back to Bluegate, I'd just be endangering everyone around me," I told him. "Including you."
The room fell silent for what seemed like a while, before Morgan eventually lost it.
"I don't care."
"What?"
"I said I don't care!!" The next thing he did was completely unexpected. His arm shot forward and seized me by the collar, and he was soon on his feet and holding me above him. "How can you say all that? After all we've been through! You can't just abandon us like this! What about your mom? What about Aki? What about me, huh?! Don't you care about us at all? Listen, Hanako, I don't really care about what you've been going through lately, because whatever it is, I can help you get through it. But not if you're going to be like this. You need to open up. Tell me why you just got up and left me all alone!!"
The fountain of tears inside me was at the brink at this point. When Morgan saw me crying, he slowly loosed his grip until both my feet were on the floor. Morgan was hardly ever this emotional about anything, so it had shocked me to say the least. The last time I ever saw him this broken up about something was the time when my father left my family, and I told him I wanted to run away from home.
No doubt he wasn't happy about my decision, and he had spent hour after hour trying to figure out a way to stop me. We were just kids, but even then Morgan was always there for me. He was the only person who could get me back on my feet when I needed to walk the distance. Even so, here I was, running away from home again, but for an entirely different reason. And this time, I knew that there was nothing even Morgan could say that could make me come home. Because I knew what I was now. And there was no way to turn back.
"Morgan, I-"
"I still haven't forgotten what your father told us all those years ago," he interrupted, a nostalgic look washing over his face. "He said, 'someday everything will make perfect sense. So for now, just laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason.' That's what I loved about your father the most, Hanako. He always wanted to inspire people. And he did. I know you feel the same way about him. So just listen to me, alright? If you're not going to come back to Bluegate with me, then I'm staying here with you. I'm not leaving your side again. I'm afraid that if I were to leave you, you would only hurt yourself more than you are now. So whether you want me to or not, I'm going to help you through this."
After that, I just couldn't help myself. I threw my arms around Morgan's neck and squeezed him so tight I thought his little head would pop off. When I pulled back, he was smiling. "Very well then," I said. "I guess there's no changing your mind."
Morgan nodded proudly. "Nope! From now on, consider me your other half."
Other half? That's a weird way to put it. But I guess he's right, in a sense. He completes me.
I had completely forgotten that there were four other people in the room besides Morgan and me. I looked at Jeremy. He seemed depressed. Levin had a wide grin on his face, looking extremely happy for me. Niall was still unconscious, and as for the cat, he was looking up at Morgan with wide, trembling eyes, and he was whispering something inaudible to himself. Morgan apparently noticed, and he stared with an awestruck gaze at the cat.
"Wow, Hanako!" He gasped. "Is this cat yours?" He rushed over to it and fell to his knees, then began scratching behind the black cat's ears. Gabriel purred pleasurably, but he still looked like he were about to burst into tears. "Aww, what's the matter, little guy?"
"Nothing...nothing at all, dear Morgan..." sniffed Gabriel.
Morgan's face went pale at hearing the cat speak. I hurried over and tried to calm him, but his eye began to twitch nonetheless. "T-t-talking c-cat..."
"Listen, Morgan, I can explain."
"That's awesome!!" He picked Gabriel carefully up with both hands and held him out like Simba in the Lion King. "Say something else! Say something else!!" He pleaded.
Gabriel actually laughed at Morgan's childlike reaction. He seemed glad, though. "Anything you wish, Morgan."
"It said my name! Hanako, this is amazing!"
"His name is Gabriel," I said.
For several minutes, Morgan seemed to be having the time of his life, just playing around with Gabriel, and for some, odd, unknown reason, Gabriel was enjoying it too. Could it be because Morgan just has a positive vibe to him or something? I can't understand why Gabriel is acting this way.
"Gabriel, huh?" Morgan smiled softly, then held the cat close to his chest, snuggling it warmly and lovingly. "So cool~..."
At this point, I think Jeremy was at his limit. I noticed that the entire time Morgan had been here, he just looked irritated. Even more now that Morgan was spending time with Gabriel, who Jeremy absolutely despised.
"Will you shut up and put that darn cat down already?!"
Morgan shot him a puzzled look, but obeyed anyway. "I'm sorry, is he yours?"
"I wouldn't admit to owning that thing even if it were," barked Jeremy. "Anyway, I just want to make a few things clear if you're going to be following us around like a dog, okay?"
Morgan nodded rapidly, obviously enthusiastic about Jeremy's approval.
"First off, I am not to be held accountable for any damage caused to you. If you get hurt, I won't be rushing to your side, got it?"
"Understood," said Morgan.
"Secondly, you aren't ever to hurt Hanako. In any way. You may be his friend, but I am his guardian. So you'll have to deal with me if that were to ever happen."
"Right."
"Lastly..." Jeremy's tenseness disappeared instantly as a look of concern dawned on him. "Remember this; painful things can teach us lessons we didn't think we needed to know. Don't be that person who goes 100 miles an hour the wrong direction down a one way road. There will always be someone who will need your help to turn around. From this day forward, you're taking the long and difficult path. Expect the unexpected, and you'll never be surprised. Lower your expectations and you'll never be disappointed. So just keep that in mind, alright?"
Morgan blinked. It was almost as though he were trying to remain calm, and with a serious, unchanging expression. But like I said before, I could read him like an open book.
I know you're afraid, Morgan. And I know you don't know what will come out of all this. But let me welcome you. Welcome into my broken, unfixable life. Because you are officially a part of it.