Legacy of the Popcorn Fairy Book 3: Forged Alliances

A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.
-Proverbs 28:25 ESV

Chapter 1: Edging Towards War

"WHO SENT OUT AN ORDER FOR A FULL RETREAT?!"

Minusions all around the underground caverns covered their heads and cringed from the piercing headache brought on by their master's enraged sonar. An air of dread quickly followed. Everyone knew that no good would come from this.

Little Adjunct Enola looked up at his counterpart. "I think it's your turn, Bimisi."

"Me?!" he yelped in fear. "Why should I?!"

"I gave him bad news last time, and the less I do that, the better."

"But Enola-"

"Just do your job and get it over with!"

Bimisi scowled at him and stomped off to give the King an explanation. It didn't take long for his frustration to descend into fear, knowing that the reasons behind the Minusions' retreat from the surface was in no way going to provoke a calm reaction out of the King. But, hey, it had to be done, and one way or another he had to figure out what was going on.

Once he made it to the throne room, Bimisi hesitated in the entrance, watching King Minusion angrily pace the spacious cavern. It wasn't until the King barked at him to come in that he stepped inside on shaky legs.

"Why have our troops returned without given clearance?" the King growled.

"Well…" Bimisi's sonar was choppy, like a stutter in human speech. "I-It was… talked over amongst the high ranks… a-and even the Queens agreed on it. T-The surface world surrounding the Blue Star successor's home i-isn't currently safe…"

"And why not?"

Bimisi cringed. "In recent days… there's been an… increasing number of vampires in the area… as well as humans that many suspect to be werewolves."

"Why should this be a problem for us?" The King faced away from the quivering Adjunct, eyes scanning the paintings on the walls. "Vampires and werewolves pose no threat to our forces."

"There was that one vampire who… who killed a Soldier not long ago."

"He was in league with her; that was no coincidence."

"Nonetheless, we feel that with so many Nether-creatures in one area, the last thing we need is to add to the growing levels of inevitable chaos."

The King huffed. "Chaos. The human race is chaotic enough. Any chaos caused by future events could easily be resolved once the Gold Star has… perfected this world."

"I-I'm wholly confident in that, sir. But… we thought it would be best if-"

"YOU DO NOTKNOW WHAT'S BEST!"

Bimisi hunched into a terrified, submissive posture as the King stormed up to him, towering over him and shrouding him with his foreboding shadow.

"WHAT'S BEST IS WHAT I TELL YOU! WITHOUT ME, YOU ARE NOTHING! YOU CANNOT FUNCTION WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION, AND A FULL RETREAT WAS NOT AUTHORIZED!"

"Please, sir, it wasn't my idea! I'm just a messenger!"

The King glowered down at the pathetic mass of shivering hazel fur like it was nothing more than scum. Then he turned around and started looking at the wall paintings again.

"If the consensus of our army agrees that we should stay put, then I'm willing to go forth with this for the moment. Until this affair with the vampires and werewolves ends, we'll simply have to keep a close eye on the Blue Star successor."

"Understood…"

"And perhaps it's high time we began to reestablish our second base."

"Sir… the island? Are you sure that's a good-?" Bimisi stopped himself. Of course it was a good idea. Anything the King said was a good idea. "W-We'll get right on that."

"Send some Queens to the island immediately. Let this time be reserved for expanding our numbers."

"Yes, sir," Bimisi said, hastily rushing out of the throne room.

Once he was alone again, King Minusion reached down, scooped up a dab of colored minerals and started etching a new image onto the wall. "Ugh… Vampires."

"Sir? Sir, I think you should see this."

Elton Tucker turned away from his work and walked over to one of Pop Central's employees'work station. His computer screen was filled with a map tracking Gold Star energy. "Something wrong?"

"It appears some small traces of Gold Star energy is escaping beyond our radar," the employee explained.

"Odd…" Mr. Tucker tapped his chin. "Recent reports have told us that they haven't attempted an assault in over a week. Perhaps they're taking this time to expand their forces. But why now?"

No one had an answer for that. After a long enough pause, Mr. Tucker placed a hand on his employee's shoulder. "Get our Carolina plant on the line. See if they've received any information."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll give our little Popcorn Fairy a call and see what she knows."

I sure was glad no one was around to hear me sigh every two minutes.

In the days that followed my week-long adventure with the Hayashis, the twins and the kidnapping of my family, I had hoped for some time to relax, but clearly the universe wasn't about to let that happen. People from all across the east coast started arriving in and near Peach Creek; according to Sora, half of them were werewolves, and it was painfully obvious that the others were vampires. I took it upon myself to protect my home from anyone with the intention of sinking their fangs into a human's neck… which, unfortunately, didn't always work out in my favor. Even with the Blue Star under my control, I was just one teenager with a fractured wrist and a life I was trying to sort out fighting an ever-growing horde of Nether-creatures.

To make matters worse, Mutt and Shane had quickly grown very distant from me. When school resumed, Mutt stopped sitting with the Eds and me at lunch and Shane just seemed to drop off the face of the earth. Without any way to get ahold of Oliver or Dr. Hayashi, Sora was the only one I could go to, and even she was acting despondent. So I was left alone to deal with these unwanted visitors, relieving the tension in my chest by fighting vampires.

As if dealing with Minusions wasn't difficult enough. With all the vampires that had been swarming to my county, the sudden workload thrust upon me actually made me miss those Gold Star-wielding monsters. Vampires were stubborn, not easy to get rid of and had a knack for robbing me of precious hours of sleep.

Today, though, with the moon nearly full, the school week almost over and the month of April about to draw to a close, I found myself in the familiar scenario of standing in front of Peach Creek town hall, fingering the splint on my left wrist. When I wasn't dealing with vampires, I turned my thoughts to the Minusions for some familiarity. They still played at my mind even though they had stopped appearing days ago. As did Peach Creek's young mayor, Tybalt Dengen.

He had always been a suspicious character to Mutt and me. His presence sent the Blue Star into high alert and his cryptic words led me to dangerous situations. Despite what we had said back at the hospital, I couldn't deny it any longer. Dengen had some kind of connection to the Gold Star; I just knew it. What that connection was, I didn't know, but given my current situation, jumping to conclusions seemed to be the only way anything would get done.

But since he didn't seem to be in his office today, I had nothing to do but go home. With one last, loud, frustrated sigh, I turned and started walking back. Along the way, out of curiosity and mild desperation, I stopped by Masterson's Winery and stuck my head inside, hoping to find Shane on duty. No luck, so I continued on.

Upon returning to the cul-de-sac, I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I had to talk to Mutt. I had to know what was going on. So I dashed over to the Kankers' front door and knocked, unable to keep still as I waited for someone to answer.

Predictably, Mutt's mother Elizabeth was the one who came to the door. Her eyes looked somewhat red and puffy, as if she had been crying. "Oh, Natalie. It's been a while since we saw you."

"I know," I sighed. "Is Mutt home?"

"He's working out downstairs."

"I really need to talk to him."

Elizabeth nodded and stepped aside, allowing me to walk inside. "I'm sure he won't mind."

Strong feelings of sorrow and fear were emanating off of her, easily picked up by my empathetic powers. "Elizabeth, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine. Just…" She hesitated. "Why don't you go see Mutt?"

"Okay." Solemnly, I left her alone and headed downstairs.

One room over from the Kankers' basement lounge was a room dedicated one half to storage, the other half to workout gear. This was where I found Mutt, currently straining himself on the chin-up bars. The basement's typical cold, damp atmosphere was blanketed by the heat and sweat pouring from Mutt's body. Ever so typical of myself, I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just stood there and waited for him to prove he knew I was there.

Finally, Mutt dropped down, wiped his forehead off and grabbed a nearby water bottle, breathlessly saying, "Hey, Nat."

"Hey."

It was a little strange seeing Mutt like this, with his hair out of order and his demeanor out of sorts. I barely recognized him. And with each second that ticked by silently, the hot atmosphere got thicker and this version of Mutt became even less recognizable.

"Mutt, it feels like you've been avoiding me recently," I eventually spoke up.

He guzzled down some water, poured some into his hand and ran it through his hair. "I'm sorry. I've just been… trying my best not to hurt you."

"Well, this isn't helping. I can tell you that."

"Sorry." He set his water down and turned to me. "I take it by now you know what's going on."

My jaw dropped in utter disbelief. "NO! I have absolutely no idea what the heck's going on!"

"You mean no one else told you? Shane? Sora?"

"I haven't seen Shane since the Lemon Brook incident and Sora barely talks to me. She only told me that werewolves and vampires have been flocking to our area… and I've had to fight off a great deal of the latter by myself, thank you very much!"

Mutt frowned with guilt. "Okay… Here's the deal. There's going to be a war."

"A war…? Between the vampires and werewolves?"

He nodded. "Well, in this case, it's not so much a war as it is a battle. The war itself has been going on for centuries, forever present in the rivalry between vampire and lycanthrope."

"So why is this battle happening? Why here? Why now?"

"There's this… ritual that's sometimes used to summon the two sides to the battlefield of choice. There, during the three nights when the moon is at its fullest, vampires and werewolves will fight in a test to prove which species is dominant. And… yeah. A battle has been called in Peach Creek's outer limits. And even if I'm not technically a werewolf, I'm still obligated to fight." He turned away from me.

"I still don't understand." I took a step closer to him. "What's the purpose of this fight?"

Mutt hesitated. "It's an excuse for vampires and werewolves to attack each other without limitations."

I slowly shook my head. "So… So there's nothing to gain from this for anyone?! You're all just going to slaughter each other for no reason other than history obligates you to?!"

"Yes, Natalie!" Mutt snapped. "It's an instinct! The call to battle…" He gripped his fists. "It's irresistible."

"And why is that? You seriously can't stop yourself from throwing yourself into battle and risking your life just to kill vampires?!"

He looked at me rather strangely. "It's weird, but… I kinda want to."

I took two steps back. "I don't know you anymore."

"Nat, I'm sorry, it's just instinct."

"That's all that matters? Mutt, you could die out there."

"I know." He turned and angrily kicked the treadmill. "That's exactly what he wants."

"Who?"

"You really don't know? Nat, who do you think called this battle in the first place?!"

Mutt's hostility towards someone who apparently wanted him dead should've been a dead giveaway, but it took me a while to put two and two together. "Dr. Hayashi?"

"Yep."

"But why would he do this?"

"My guess, as a means of bumping me off without killing me himself."

"…Because he doesn't want to personally hurt me," I finished quietly.

We both stood in silence for a moment. Then Mutt managed to work up a tender gesture, walking over to me and nudging my arm. "Hey, I'll be alright. Trust me."

"Can't you just avoid the fight?" I asked. "If this is what Dr. Hayashi wants, why not just stop the war?"

Mutt's eyes clouded over with sadness. "I can't."

"Yes you can! One person could be enough to persuade these people that this fight doesn't have to happen!"

He turned away. "Nat, I'm sorry… but I can't be that one person."

I bit my lip and squinted, doing my best to hold back tears. "If that's what you want…" I started to walk out. "But you're doing this for nothing, Mutt. There's too much to lose and nothing to gain. …Especially for me."

Mutt said nothing as I closed the door behind me and headed back upstairs. In the living room, I quickly ran into Elizabeth again. Now I understood why she was crying. She didn't want to lose Mutt, but her pain was different from mine. Her only son had been recruited and was about to be sent off to war. She had more reason to cry than I did.

I wasn't sure what my face looked like, but she must've sensed my distress, because she quickly gave me a hug and we both started weeping softly. "I'm so sorry," I told her.

"Thank you. So am I."

"I promise… I'm going to do everything I can to stop this war."

Elizabeth released the hug and looked me in the eyes. "Be safe."

"I will." After giving her one last, reassuring pat, I walked outside.

I was about to go home, but my legs decided that I wanted to sit down on the sidewalk and think first. This still made no sense to me. Why would anyone want to fight in a battle with no intention but to fight in a battle? I just didn't understand this whole "instinct" thing; my fight against the Gold Star felt more like a duty than a rivalry. These guys had full intentions to rip each other apart and apparently not an ounce of pity or remorse.

So what could I do? I was only human. I couldn't relate to them.

My phone started ringing. It took a while for my arm to respond to my brain's commands, but I eventually pulled it out and pressed it to my ear; the thought of checking the caller ID never crossed my mind. "Hello?"

"Natalie?"

"Yes."

"Hey, it's Mr. Tucker."

At first I couldn't register the name. After three seconds it occurred to me that I was talking to the manager of Pop Central. "Oh, Mr. Tucker. W-What's up?"

"We've noticed things have been getting a little iffy down there," Mr. Tucker explained. "Have there been any recent Minusion attacks?"

"Well, they started to become less frequent in recent weeks, then a few days ago they just stopped altogether."

"Huh… How odd."

"I think I know why, though."

"Why's that?"

"Well… It's complicated, but let's just say there've been growing numbers of vampires and werewolves in the area."

"…Y-You don't say."

"Yep."

He took a while to reflect on this. "Interesting. I wouldn't think they would cease their attacks out of fear of vampires or werewolves. Perhaps they're just using their presence as an excuse to spend time expanding their army."

"Maybe."

"If that's the case, it would explain why they're venturing southward."

Dread quickly sunk in. "They're… leaving Peach Creek?"

"It would seem so."

"Well, what should I do about it?"

"Until we figure out where exactly they're going, there's little you can actually do. When we get precise information, we'll let you know. In the meantime, you should be free to deal with the current problem at hand."

I nodded despite him not being able to see the gesture through a phone. "Any advice for that?"

"Um… I'm not particularly an expert on vampires or werewolves…"

"It's fine; I figured as much. Well… thanks, anyway."

"Of course, Natalie."

Before he had a chance to wrap it up, something else came to mind. "Oh! One more question! It's about that blue kernel you gave me. It can grant me any wish, right?"

"From what I can tell, yes. You can wish for anything except the destruction of the Gold Star. As powerful as it is, it's not nearly as powerful as the Blue Star itself."

"Understood."

"Why, have you used it already?"

"No. Not yet."

"Good. You'll probably need it in the future."

"Don't I know it." I finally stood back up and started walking home. "Well, I think that's all I need right now."

"Alright. I'll be praying for you."

"Thank you, sir. Bye."

"Good bye."

And with that, Mr. Tucker and I hung up. As I walked along the cul-de-sac, I allowed myself to worry. Here I was, stuck in a crisis I had absolutely no control over; the crisis I was supposed to be dealing with was worsening while I could do nothing about it. It was hard to describe the levels of uselessness I was feeling at that moment.

All I knew for certain was that this war had to be stopped and it had to be stopped soon. I had to save my friends and countless other lives, and I had to get my focus back on the Minusions immediately.

Somehow, some way, I was going to stop the Blood War.

Upon returning home and retreating to my bedroom, the predominant question became how. How was I going to subdue hordes of vampires and werewolves? They barely listened to me as it was; I doubted they would pay me any notice when in battle, whether I had the Blue Star or not.

I let out a stiff exhale. You'll think of something. You always do.

It was times like this when I wished I was still a hybrid. Maybe then they'd listen to me.