"Eve! John! Dinner time!" The mother yelled from downstairs.
Here, on the table, a pot of stewed lamb cooked with turmeric and pepper and mashed potato on the plate is served. A heavy stomach-filler for tonight's meal, added with green beans on the side.
"Oh, I'm not eating this for sure. I have a date with jackfruit skin..." She said with a piece of yellow fruit and peeled skin on the side.
"Coming, dear!" The father descends from the stairs, with clothes appearing tidy and vibrant through the blue shirt. He heads to the table and picks up his first plate of mashed potato.
"Eve! Dear, time for dinner!"
"Coming..." She muttered—with wet hair and body cleaned after a long bath. Wearing a pale blue shirt with black jeans, she heads to the dinner with a formal look.
"What's the dinner for today?"
"Stewed lambs! I got these lamb legs for a 25% discount and I couldn't think of anything much more delicious than a lamb on a tasty soup." She was confident in her making, but her hands held the jackfruit for a meal other than what she offered.
"Okay. Sounds good for a tummy..." Eve scoops a leg and a soup - her eyes don't look too satiated, and her lips push aside in disgust.
Seems the dinner started quickly and awkwardly. The father ate his lunch without a slight thought, savoring every part of the lamb's flesh down his throat. Sadly, he didn't keep his mouth shut doing so, leaving a disgusting face for the mother and the daughter.
"John! Keep your mouth off while eating."
"Uhm! Sorry! I was too addicted. You should make more like this!" The father cherishes everything from the plate.
"Yeah, I guess..."
"Ehehe, alright..." She lowered her bowl to the table - her face turned from joy to sadness as she stared worriedly at Eve, who kept her mouth off the meat.
"Uhm, John?" The mother whispers. Her upper lip waves above, along with her right cheek, where Eve sits beside her. She seems anxious while maintaining her.
"What? I closed my mouth..."
"No, don't you remember? We're supposed to...can you stop chewing, dear?"
John finishes, "Can you remind me again, dear?"
"We're supposed to tell Eve about "that" in this table. Don't you remember?"
"Oh, yeah...that thing. Can we at least wait until I finish this one yet?" The father could not leave his plate full.
"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" She stares left and right.
"Eve, we need to talk about your...uhm...self?" The mother gestures her fingers to the inclusion of Eve's presence.
"We're concerned. We think you've been doing off with your days..." John drops his spoon to the table.
"We want to tell you that...we...we..." The man stutters.
Stella finishes what John can't, "We want you to go for a trip! A far trip around the north..."
"What?" Eve pauses with an alert tone.
"We haven't decided yet...but..." The mother slides something on the table.
"Wouldn't you consider an offer with us first?"
Before Eve, there is a brochure with guidance about a camping trip in a place known as Wellspring. It appears seemingly as an outdoor activity for younglings with which the registration and application are listed. But those lists are not what Eve had planned for her dusk—not on her plate, her new friend, and her bad news.
"What is this?" She looks in disappointment. Her tone can be heard from her parents in an unpleasing expectation. The dinner turns cold instantaneously as the mother and father look in worry.
"We didn't mean to put you under any pressure...but lately, we are worried about your performance." The mother sympathizes, but her daughter stares unpleased.
"What's wrong with my performance? Have you seen my grade yet?" Eve remains calm - criticism is offered to the others.
"Eve, we're concerned about you. About...everything..." The mother worries, and so does the father.
"We've heard from the principal. You are getting your second mark before your thesis is done! That's not going to go well to your...final."
"We're not sure what you did there, but we were told a few about it. Especially what you did with few people in the school and..." The mother expands.
"Uhm, Eve? What's with your...eye?" The father points at her. The purpled eyelid was vaguely visible to the naked eye, prompting the girl to cover it immediately.
The mother shifts, "W-we get it. It could be a coincidence for you to get that mark a few weeks before your graduation. But we want you to anticipate with this..."
"Hrgh...are you saying you don't trust me after everything I did in school?" Eve reads the brochure.
"Eve, it's not about everything in school. It's about you."
"We were just worried that you're not going as what we are hoping for you. You could've gone out for something big out there!"
"Graduating is one thing, but your future is more. Your future is more than passing, Eve..."
"You've been on your own for so long and it's not really something to be proud of."
"But I told you many times I could do ANYTHING myself. We've been talking about this..."
"But it's a long time ago, Eve. It has to change now!"
"Well, it does. I changed not to be that girl you told me. I'm not the girl you feared before...I can protect myself and find a living! I am already different!"
"Eve, you don't understand. We're not forcing anything out of you! We only want you to consider. There's something out there you could do more with yourself..."
"Something more than just reading, dear?"
"Mom. This camp is not even registering anything about book literature...how am I supposed to learn from this? I still have a thesis to follow. I can't learn something new...anything unless coming from school right now."
"It's good to see you learning from school, but...don't you think it'll be great if you could learn something new for the first time? For the fun of going outside? You could add that to your book thesis, you know?" The mother smirks.
"I can't. It's finalized with one topic. 80 chapters under a long bargain..."
"What's the good about the camp, anyway?" Eve's voice uttered low and slightly grunted.
"I heard the camp has a lot of children participating voluntarily! There must be a good reason for that!" The mother cheers.
"It's only around two to three weeks, and you don't have to worry about meals, home, and clothes because they have everything they need there!" The father slides into the conversation.
"The people there are nice, even the counselors. You'll have everything you want and need to make yourself there, dear."
"Right! You have everything you want! You can even keep a book, too! You'll find a lot of friends there, Eve!"
"Maybe there's someone as thoughtful as you are! A friend that likes a gloomy place, too?" The mother speaks.
She stared blankly at the brochure, showing no discomfort or joy with the parents' offer. The house felt more silent than ever—as if the world turned its lights off for a spotlight between them. Her parent's worry shackles every hope in her progress in the novel.
"W-we haven't put your name in it. That's why we were here to tell you..." The mother smiles an empathetic message to her - elbows on the table, as her palms reach for a prayer stance.
"Please consider this for your own good. M-maybe it can help you with finding someone to talk with..."
"I'm sure you could find someone out there that would help you out, Eve."
"Maybe you can learn something new there! You can even find out why pine cones like to fall from the tree, and how to tie a knot?"
"I have like 23 knots types in my head. I just don't have enough ropes to do so."
She sat calmly with lips shut, staring at the brochure as she finished the page in one look—the shortest novel she had ever read, disappointing her.
"Eve...?" The father sat worriedly while his daughter stared calmly at the brochure with a blank face.
"Eve, are you okay?"
"R-really? You don't have to if you're bothered..."
"I'll consider it..." She leaves her chair without finishing her meal—eyes still staring at the brochure while her grip tightens on the page.
"Oh, uh...are you going to eat that?" The father stares hungrily at her plate. He took it from her and had himself another feast - forgetting about everything that happened on the table.
"If you need our help, you know we'll be in our room beside you." The mother sat worriedly—her appetite for the jackfruit turned to dust.
"Okay. Thanks for the dinner, mom..." She left the room without
"No need to force yourself, dear! We can discuss about this tomorrow! There's still 3 days before the trip started!" The mother yelled, and her daughter went upstairs.
The mother looks relieved at herself after speaking off her chest while the father continues in his gluttonous goal. The hands had decided for the moon to ascend where its hands had reached the deepest part.
"Oh, dear. I can't believe it goes smoothly. Can you imagine how worse could it be if we do it without her consent?"
"Horrifying. But I'm glad that I don't have to play a fool near her face anymore..."
"That doesn't end yet for us, dear. Eve still had to made her choice..."
"What could've been worse than what she has now? I know we need to give her a push. But nothing seems to work lately..." The father puts the plate off to the center.
"Even that boy Cyrus hasn't helped her enough. And I paid him to do better..."
"I just hope we can understand her feelings and thoughts as we should as her parents." Her eyes locked onto the moon, for its light shone through the darkness and reflected her face from the window.
"I'm just worried what she would do without anyone to watch over her. Where she could have been without us?" That question had her worried for the night.
The streetlights beamed through the darkness, spraying life into the city with its warm light dazzling particles. The further the night passes, the closer Eve's fate goes.
*Creak* She enters her room with a distressed face, watching her lamps shining brighter through the night.
"Friend, you're back! Did you get some treats for me?" Charger awaits with a DS—or what seems to be one.
*Game over* "Uh oh! I seems to failed that one..."
The girl stares at the brochure again, filling herself with more unpleasing sights. No malice nor rant comes out of her mouth—only a disappointed face. Today was not a good day for her. Perhaps it could be the worst day of her life.
"Friend? Is anything wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's just focus on this "agreement" between us. You're still up for that, imp?" She exhales.
"Yes! Anything!"
"And you know what? Let's do this quickly. Why waste time for tomorrow when there's today? Sheesh..."
"That's what I'm talking about!"
"Grab the rune. Now!" She grabs her bag.
"Sweet! So this is it?" The creature prepares himself for a trip - bag ready with Eve's shirt on.
"Channel your inner negative thought into the rune and shape a door with it. It would take a precise thought for you to channel the door to..."
"Alright...channel...negative...urgh...urgh!" Eve intervenes.
"It's working! It's working!" Charger was shocked.
"Hang on, friend! Just a little more!" He latches onto her foot.
"Aagh! Ugh..." She points the shard forward as it slowly dissipates.
"Eve! No! Don't lose the focus! You're almost close!" The creature comes to her.
"I'm trying! Can't you see what I'm doing?"
"Eve, come on! You can do this!"
"I'm trying, okay? Stop yelling at me!" Eve yelled.
"Come on, Eve! Come on, Eve! Come on, Eve!" What seems to be cheer ended up as coal to the furnace.
"Shut up, Charger!!" She yelled loudly to his ears.
*Blast* A wave shook the house into a temporary blackout, pushing Eve and Charger away from the impact.
"What's that? What was that quake?" The mother walks out of the room.
"Calm down, Stella. It's just the neighbor's speaker again..." John comforts her back to their mask session.
"Oh, not again...I told you we should've reported her to HOA..."
"Aagh! Umph...!" Eve fell to the ground, releasing the rune from her hand.
"What happens? Did I do it?"
"Yeah, you did it!" Charger wakes her up. A sight to show before the two.
A blue vortex appears before Eve, with rubbles from her floor floating around to form a door frame. The looks of the rift are satisfying to watch when its bright blue light brings the wind to your peace.
"Woah..." Eve mesmerized.
"Now, hold on. I need to change..." Eve headed to the wardrobe with a blank thought.
"Can you focus on something else, imp?"
"Oh, sorry! I'll wait...I'll wait..." Charger assigns himself.
The decision is clear, and the mind's fixed on only one place. As Eve changes her looks, she ponders at the pile of books on the shelves that were once readable words on a chapter.
"Charger." Eve walks out with a new set of looks. A star-shimmering shirt with shoulder-strapped pants and long black socks so you can look appealing on the midnight walk.
"Alright. you can look back now. I'm already looking good here."
"So, can we leave now?" Charger impatiently awaits with a DS off. His game comes to an abrupt end.
*Console off* "Bye-bye!"
"Charger, you said you can fulfill my promise on this agreement together?"
"Yes, friend! Anything you want!"
"Does it involve EVERYTHING magical worth writing?"
"Of course! Animals, sky, realms—anything!"
"Then I want to make sure of something special." She grabbed the creature to her face.
"You and I...on that door—Leaving this world at once for a place out of my sight. You—my friend, promise from here and on that you are going to owe me EVERYTHING as we agreed?"
"Yes, friend!"
"From bone and flesh, I will remain who I am until I return. I will not be debauched, dismantled, or mutilated upon?"
"Pfft! Where did you get that idea? Obviously, you would be a human no matter what!"
"From time and space, I will have the authority to feel aware of everything? Knowing everything and bear witness until I return here?"
"Yep! Don't you see me, friend? I'm still here!"
"And from here and now...here...where I am...standing as a student..." She hesitates for a moment.
"Will I...will I have a chance to...to live on my own...should it be necessary?"
"Don't worry, friend. All kinds of promise lies with me. Obviously, it's not like I could lie at this moment. Can I?" The creature jokes.
"Great...great...that's what I like to hear. No more pain...no more plays..."
"No more lies...no more..." The vortex glances at her just as she stares back—mesmerized and locked within its beauty.
"You know, friend. If I were you, I would've looked upon the tower first and see how fast I could get that magic power first before worrying about your semester! I mean, think of what you could do with all those powers on you!"
"You could turn them into a good use for your project or exam! Or even better..." Charger offered her a face mask.
"You might be a good sidekick, too! Feel the power, Eve!"
"Power. The power of the light..." Her thoughts bargain.
"Yes. Power for a good use...that's what I would do..." She walks closer to the vortex, feeling the cold even further.
"That's what I'm talking about! Now, let's go! Woo!" The creature steps in—fading into a white light.
"I can do this. I'm learning something new..." She whispers.
[Next Day]
The beautiful house of Cyrus was blessed under the sunlight. The sunshine boy ponders on another day, watching the sun rise past his school time.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Someone knocks on his door this early morning while Cyrus swallows his drowsy out. He remains busy until his teeth are clean, brushing up and down and spitting it out.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Another knock on his door with shorter intervals, creating a quick thump. The knocker continues to bang while Cyrus descends with his shirt tucked halfway to his waist.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The third knock thumped by force, like a fist barging into the door. The knocker makes a louder noise, now irresistible to ignore by Cyrus, who is only a few inches away from the door.
"Alright. I'm coming! I'm coming! Sheesh..." The boy reaches out to the door with his clothes on, teeth clean, and breakfast served.
A surprise for him to meet a familiar face with a contemptful eye staring over his delinquency. Dion appears to him in another set of clothes, anonymous and covering every inch of his body.
"Nice coat." Cyrus compliments—a proficient work for the leather brown coat to cover his face up to his neck, followed by a fedora hat to keep that hair from a shining star.
"No need to compliment me, slowhead. Just let me in so I can get rid of this thing before anyone sees us." Dion stood calmly - his hands tucked within the coat while his shoes tap hurriedly.
"Woah. Talking about manners." Cyrus closes the door - helping Dion to the living room is unexpected for his morning routine.
An expression from Dion's eyes seems to show further resentment for his situation. Seeing the interior of Cyrus' house icks him to his bone, watching the furnished room slowly crushing his soul.
"Ugh, you live like this? What kind of people are you?" Dion drops his coat on the hanger - two coats stand together as they face the sun alongside.
"Eugh, what kind of colors are these house decorations?" He stares in disgust at the pale brown and orange gradient for all the wooden furniture in the living room - the uncouth and fresh polished wood texture that scatters through the room carries an insufferable sight for Dion.
"At least you have some decency with woodworking around here." He took off his hat.
"So, this is what people like you did in your free time? Piling up trash and made some kind of...art from it?"
"I'll take that as thank you for coming in?" Cyrus' tone indicates disturbance and disappointment—with eyebrows down.
"Pfft. I wouldn't need to tell you that. Did I?" Dion wiped his clothes with a tint roller.
"Anyway, what's the about the criminal again?" Cyrus rolls his eyes - shirt tucked with a cardigan jacket as he prepares to come with style at Dion's face.
Dion cleans the couch with a portable vacuum, "Huh, oh right! So, about this criminal...he's coming from another city and ended up in this place ten days ago. I need your help to find him and put this creature to an end by any means before he could turn this pile of shit city into a...more pile of shit?"
"I'm after a creature named Charger. Charger the Great. He was arriving in this place ten days ago and roaming around for who knows how far. I need your help to catch him and retrieve him to the bearer."
"Got it. Wait, who and what again?" Cyrus pauses - despite the truth, he couldn't decipher any sense from Dion's mouth.
"It's a dwarf kind that looks like some pile of stone with blue rust around his face. Not sure if it's construct or not, but it might have an intellect like a machine." Dion stares focusedly at the TV.
"This is a mission that I couldn't give to anyone but someone like you. Someone whose mind isn't as broken and lost as those people in that school." He muttered what seemed to be an appraisal yet subtle with a critic.
"Hey! Don't call my friends like that! Have you not seen yourself?" Cyrus pulls a mirror to his face, and a smiling face appears in the reflection as Dion cherishes it.
"Listen, what you're going to do now would be out of your thought and perception about reality. You're about to journey through the world and venture into the place like no others."
"There's a lot for me to show you about. But I have one thing that I need from you to do. A bidding for the loose criminal. I am not making this up as you speak..."
"You're about to become a powerful thing in this world and set peace within the soil we called home. You're about to become indomitable, sumptous, and grandiose man ever known in this world as..."
"The bearer." Dion finishes - and the TV starts with a loud intro, seemingly introducing the two together.
"What do you say? Don't you want to live this life out, peasant?" He reaches for Cyrus's hand - Left in silence, Cyrus stood awkwardly from hearing nothing close to home. His eyes stare left and right, from Dion's bag to the television and into his glass of water.
"Uh, what did I hear right now? Am I deaf or are you speaking British down your tongue?"
"Rude man! Show some manners, will you?" Dion hypocrite. His anger leads to an unsettling dispute that displeases Cyrus.
"Just tell me."
"Fine. Let me show you." He reaches for his bag with pride - a smirk that intimidates Cyrus for his curiosity.
"Whatever..."
"I am-woah...what?" Dion pauses - his bag feels lighter and warmer, bearing red colors through his gleaming polyester skin, and no shard is present.
"Uhm, nice catch...?" Cyrus muttered on the TV - someone could have caught that ball better than whoever threw it. Either way, the pitcher was in shame for letting his game lose.
"No, no, no...fuck! That creature got my rune off my hand! Fuck!" He curses the sky and slams the ground - his fist bore through the carpet, spreading dust into the air and to his face.
"Aagh! My face! My precious face is tainted with your commonly rug, peasant!"
"Name's Cyrus! And please. Are you done ranting your nonsense here? Cause all I hear is a kid with sugar rush mumbling about his imaginary enemy..."
"Impossible! How could he find that thing?? I kept it inside my bag from the time I went to school! How did he..." Dion walks around in a circle -angered and ranting.
"This is your fault, peasant! Look what you made me do!"
"Wow, flattering. I've never been insulted that hard since Eve and I went to school yesterday. By the way, what happened to her now?" Cyrus mutters - dust flies to his lungs as he unexpectedly inhales Dion's mess.
"Aack! Dion! What the fuck?? Uhuk! Uhuk! Aack!" Yelled Cyrus from the top of his lungs. Scarred with the dust, he fell weakened to the table, with tears in his eyes and migraines in his head. But it occurs painful yet short-lived.
"Thanks for nearly killing me, boy. That's the sixteen times you came a pest to me." He refreshes with water. Cleaning his throat and spewing the water out is one way to rid the dust off your body.
"Stop yelling at me! I'm not deaf!" Dion agitates.
"You're ranting at me. Stop yelling, I don't want to yell..."
"Wait, did you say Eve? Is that the girl who's in the class with us?" Dion lifted his arms - palms open like a police arresting over his face.
"She's the student that sat behind you. The on in the corner, remember?"
"And the only one in the class during lunchtime? The one alone in the class?"
"Yeah, why?"
The answer is all it took for Dion to comprehend. Rage boiled again in his heart, yet it mixed with confusion for the questionable suspect. As he stared at Cyrus for one last time, he cleared his throat and prepared to leave.
"We need to go. Now." Dion packs up.
"If that girl still has my rune, then she would've gone elsewhere with that criminal. Now!"
"Woah, woah, woah...you're talking about Eve? Eve, the immovable force in this city?" Cyrus turned off the TV, following Dion, who had headed to pick up his coat.
"She's a stay at home girl, Dion. There's a reason we called her a moon lady."
"That'll be a phenomenon if she ever walks off her house for someone else." He helps him with the fedora. But Dion snatches rudely from his hand.
"Dunno, don't care. No human could resist the temptation of his bidding. For as the rune doesn't stay in my hand, the criminal would've been somewhere else dangerous and heading for more trouble."
"You said the criminal is a gremlin?"
"A size of your knee, I suppose. Trouble maker who had cost a lot in the city and had me here to go after him. Not sure what kind of reward I can get from this."
It became clear that Cyrus had nothing to understand about. Seeing Dion in haste without a joke in his words, he had another feeling coming at him uncomfortably. Like a fuming smoke coming through his lungs, expanding the once dust-covered pipes.
"Who are you?" He stared doubtfully at Dion as his foot reached for the front door.
"The question is...What am I?" He teased a smirk that left Cyrus befuddled before heading to the street with his cloaked self.
"What? What are you talking about? Come back here!" He follows, but not before he changes himself.
[East Pinnacle]
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* "Eve, breakfast ready!" The mother knocks on the door of her daughter's room.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* "Eve, don't get your favorite steak cold already!"
*Knock* *Knock* "Eve? Are you there?"
*Creak* "Is my princess still asleep? It would be bad if someone wakes her up now, right?" She carefully opens the door.
"Eve? Eve, where are you, dear?" She looks around at the empty room. There's nothing to be found.
"Oh, no. What did she do? What did she..." The mother drops the cup on the table. The carpeted floor saves friction from tearing it down.
But it could not save Stella's face from seeing how empty and tidied the room was. Everything looks well-placed as if nothing had happened from yesterday. The only thing that was off for Stella was the slight cold within the room temperature and a sticky note on the table.
"Huh? What is this?" She reads the note.
"Oh. Oh, what? What did she mean...? What?"