"Oi, Maggie... long time no see!" A voice exclaimed from behind.
Maggie, on turning around was surprised to see Damian, and behind him stood Sky and three other members; two boys and a single girl, all dressed in exorcist uniforms.
"Damian!" She exclaimed as she hugged Damian.
"It feels like its been ages. How's life been treating you?" She added as she retracted from the huge.
"Fairly okay. A little bit of near death experiences, a little bit of alcohol. You know, the usual.... but, I'm still standing."
"That's good to hear."
Maggie notices sky, who stands behind Damian, presently observing her.
"I'm sorry, I dont seem to remember you. Have we met?"
"Me?... ohh no, I'm new. I'm Sky... Sky Barlowe, and this is Rich, Kaitlyn and Joshua." Sky replied as she cautioned to her friends.
Kaitlyn, the only girl amongst Sky's three friends, was a fairly tall young woman, about 17 years old and with an oxlade red hair which match with utterly perfect jawline, perfecting her beauty. Behind her was her glaive, a special type of spear tied to a rope which aids in portability.
Rich on the other hand was a boy, about 18 years old. His hair, golden yellow in colour, and his face, was simply completely irresistible. His well defined muscles matched his belle belly figure, making him a ten out of ten.
And lastly, Joshua. A tall slim well built handsome lad, with hair as white as snow. He carries an arrowless crossbow and on his hips, a small bag knotted to prevent the constituents from escaping easily. The constituents in this case were...pebbles.
"Pleased to meet you all." Maggie replied.
"Same here.... I'm Kaitlyn. It's nice to meet a fellow female exorcist, where's your uniform?" Kaityln replied
"Ohh I'm not an priest.... I'm his sister." Maggie replied gesturing at Eddy.
"Did...did...she just mistake exorcists for priests?" Rich asked.
"You do know there's a big difference between priests and exorcists right?" Joshua added.
"H...h...h...h...h...h...h...hold up a sec! Your brother is him, Eddy Lawler, the 3rd Elder?!" Kaityln stuttered as she spoke.
"Yeah. you know him?"
"Duhh! He's the elder prodigy! Can... can
..can I speak to him?"
"Knock yourself out. " Maggie replied as she gestured at her Eddy, giving Kaityln all the space she needed.
"That's Eddy Lawler?" Rich asked gazing at Eddy in amazement.
"So cool...." Joshua added.
Kaityln charges at Eddy mumbling gibberish as she intends with all her might to embrace Eddy who keeps her a distance away with his hand.
"Dont even think about it." Eddy said before pushing her a distance away.
"Enough of the pleasantries. let's go in already."
The pleasantries were done and dusted and so they proceeded into the amusement park. It didn't come short to its name. The rides were perfectly built, providing the adequate amount of fear, thrill ofcourse a merriness to all the customers. As the soft retero music played aloud from the speakers, our exorcist bunch all went on rides, on a goal, to enter every ride on the damn amusement park. Perhaps it was impossible, but it was a worthy try considering that the celebrant, Maggie, was not going to be opportune as she was in this instance. As time flew by, the fatigue finally caught up to Eddy, who was utterly famished after rounding up his fifth ride, the roller coaster. Almost stumbling, Eddy managed to get to a bench and fell onto the bench, while being escorted by the rest of the gang.
"Eddy?... are you okay? What's wrong?" Maggie worriedly asked.
"I'm fine. Rides aren't just my thing. Sorry. You can move on without me. I'll sit the rest out."
"Eh...You sure?"
"I'm positive."
With those words uttered, everyone was prepared to continue their journey, but Damian on the other hand could tell something was wrong. Eddy might be the anti social type, but he was obviously hiding something from everyone, perhaps the pain he was currently under.
"Alright, move along. I'll catch up to you lots in a bit."
Maggie and the rest moved on, leaving Damian and Eddy all alone. Damian throws himself on the bench, landing butt first as he relaxes, gazing upon the cloudy night sky.
"Cloudy night. It might get a little chilly."
"Why're those kids here? This was supposed to be jus the three of us, you, me and Maggie."
"Dont ask me. I invited Sky, and she so happened to bring her friends with her."
"And why'd you invite her?"
"I mean, we almost got her killed. It's kinda the least we can do, and as she said, she wants to spend more time with her 'favorite elder'" Damian replied with a proudful grin on his face.
"I see..."
"So... are you gonna tell me what's up with you?"
Eddy ignored the question, gazing at his palms once more
"Eddy..."
"I'm fine. Go have fun already and stop worrying about me."
"It's inhumane to not worry for ones partner. I'm not doing it just because it's right, I'm doing it 'cause I actually care."
"And I'm tired of being worried about, so just go have fun already. "
Damian turned to Eddy, wholly confounded on the being that was Eddy. A man he had been partnered with for over a year and still was yet to comprehend him. To his sister, he played perfectly the part of the loving brother but to others, including Damian to an extent, he was rude, disrespectful and as some thought, an a**hole. Whatever it was that was running about his mind, he definitely wasn't gonna force anything out so he might as well leave the prodigy be.
Giving a soft tiresome sigh, Damian rose to his feet and slid his hands into his pockets as he walked away.
"Ohh well, I guess I'll see you later then. Dont over push yourself Lawler."
The cool cloudy night sky gradually faded away, exposing the star covered night sky. The constellations and alignment of the stars, as well as the fairly bright moon, truly made the sky worth stargazing. Eddy while still seated on the bench, all alone, gazed upon the stars, emotionless and lost in his thoughts. A soft gentle breeze blew by, flickering Eddy's hair a tad bit before suddenly disappearing.
"The sky's beautiful tonight wouldn't you say?" A voice said.
Last he had checked, he was all alone on the bench, additionally he didn't hear any footsteps or the bench creak, so who exactly was speaking to him? He turned to the voice only to catch a glimpse of a woman who's seated on the same bench with him, stargazing as well.
The woman who judging by her facial appearance was in her late twenties, with her short black hair, wore nothing but a tank top and skinny pants which aligned with her masculine boots. Her ears, double pierced and on her wrist a tattoo dubbed "Hannah X Isak" and on her left ring finger was a one of a kind prestigious wedding ring.
As tempting as she might seem, her presence was far too suspicious and perilous to ignore, or perhaps the matter was being exaggerated.
"I dont know. I'm not much of a sky enthusiast."
"Me neither, but something's you gotta know when to appreciate art."
"True...."
".....say... you're the child prodigy, Edward Lawler, right?"
"And if I am?"
"Ohh nothing really, I'm just a huge fan of you exorcist, that's all."
"Really? Even though we extort money in the form of tax from you citizens... that's wise."
"It's a small price to pay to keep living in this cruel cruel world, if I do say so myself. Don't you agree Edward?"
"Well it doesn't matter anymore. Today's a good day, the time for celebration. " she added as she crossed her feet while throwing her hands on the bench.
"What're you celebrating?"
"Well that's the thing, it's a little weird."
"I'm listening." Eddy replied, gazing at her while still suspicious of her infinitely possible true motives.
Staring down at the floor, she gives a deep sigh, taking a muster of deep breaths to gain courage.
"It's my daughter's tenth birthday, it's a big milestone making it age 10 y'know. That's your, well, first decade. I really should be more appreciative."
"If today's her birthday then why are you here?... don't you wanna be with her?"
"I do but... well, let's say....work kinda dragged me out here."
"Ohh, you're an amusement staff?"
"Mmmm... something like that.
I've probably missed the party by now, I'm such a horrible mother aren't I? I missed my kid's only 10th birthday all for what, work? I'm so silly."
Eddy continued his endless gaze, as several thoughts lingered.
"Was it all an act or was she telling the truth?" He thought to himself. If it was an act, what would be her intentions or could she be telling the truth. Well even if she was lying, a bit of the truth must have been mixed with the lie so definitely he was sure some part if not all the parts of what she had said was the truth.
"Yeah... you're a shitty parent."
The woman, amazed by his reply turned to him, insulted and as well as disrespected by the child who stood infront of her.
"Huh?"
"You knew how important the birthday was and yet you missed it. You could've gotten a permit to leave the premises early, or finished your shift as always, if you intended on attending the party that is, but instead you bailed. So yes, you're shit. Though, you chose work for extra hours, so you needed more pay. Perhaps for a gift or to aid your breadwinner. So as commendable as that may be you have to realize that to the kid, you bailed on her and you'll always be shit, if you move forward with the same morales."
"So what're you insinuating then?"
".....Reimburset her... basically. Work hard, make sacrifices but always be there for your child. That's the burden a parent is cursed to carry in this world."
Dumbfounded by the words spoken by Eddy, all she could do was stare at Eddy, surprised that such a young boy had such worldly knowledge.
"Say... how old are you?"
"....guess"
"Eighteen?"
"Close... 17"
"You're a minor?! Unexpected.... well, anyway I don't think it really matters."
"Edward Lawler, from now on, we're both friends." She added as an innocent smile drew on her lips while gazing upon Eddy.
"Is that so?... then can I get your name then?"
"My name..."
Rising swiftly from the bench, she turned over to Eddy.
"...I'm Yoko Kobayashi.... you can call me Yoko... I hope you live long enough for us to meet again Edward." She added as she turned around and began to slowly departed from Eddy.
"Oi... what about your daughter? What're you gonna do about her?"
Yoko, immediately stops and her smile turns to a grin.
"Well... basically...I'll make it up to her by Thanksgiving.... I'll give her something worth thanking." Yoko replied and exited while Eddy watched her leave.
It was just as he suspected, it was a false alarm.