Notice: Please, if you do sit down and read this, leave a review to at least let me know there are those out there READING, and not just people glancing and then throwing me aside… I've spent about three years on this work and am very proud… I'll post more chapters up soon
Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Nightmare
For I am beyond your comprehension
"For I am beyond your comprehension… what is that supposed to mean… god damn it!"
Trying to rattle the endless cages of her brain, a woman at the desk of her dark study, yelled into the pitched darkness. The man in her dream was not nearly as triumphant as the voice she continued to hear echoing within her cramped space.
"Mortal to the appearance, but how a man with such tattered clothing upon him, could hold such a large… possessed even voice…is beyond me."
She pondered, for such a simple dream; it looked as though it were completely foreign to the little woman. Maybe it was her surroundings. The only light which sheltered her frame came amongst a lowly candle wick, its life's end growing nearer as the night drew on. The stench of blood filled the air like a stain of wine to silken linen; innocence could never possibly hold its own. She strayed, losing herself within the confines of insanity. Dirty fingers went to the table as if metal to a magnet, tracing in different circles and shapes, like the very nature of expectation, the lonely candle died out, and darkness surrounding her, the evil being suffocating from lack of fear from this one, as was necessary for its very survival. Her fingers traveled back in the opposite direction, as the candle had died, instantly, the room filled with the sweet intuition.
Chandeliers, which hung from the high ceiling, exploded in glorious beams and flames of ever pure light; bookshelves, candles, boxes of chalk forgotten over time, everywhere, even the occasional stack of blood stained parchment, they were all now revealed from underneath the cloak of darkness. Blood increased, the flow seeming to be endless. A puddle leading to what could be thought of as meat, flesh, different, but the very same. A white shirt, snowy tint, it was white to the extent that the pink let through, crimson fighting to overtake its contrary pigment, a pair of large glasses. It was human; it was also far from the breath that humans could take for granted.
The woman's insanity spread through, as a foul gust of wind racing, looking to silence the flames of each candlestick. They glowed brighter, and brighter they stayed. Head pressed to the wooden desk; covered with scripts and stationary, the woman dare not look over her tender shoulder, it was simply not done. Blood boiling, the puddle grew as to take in the first gasp of life in ages gone by; the flesh lurched back and forth as the blood jumped high into the heated, musky air.
A war, death to the masses
"What, does it mean a war? Those people... were dying, gone so quickly…"
The gruesome scene behind her, ceased, candles dimming down gently, blood resting easy but the horrid corpse upon the ground was no where in sight, if one were to look for such a thing once more.
"Calm yourself…"
Lighter than air, but with the tone of that which comes from the bellies of hell, the voice danced along her nerves. Pale white hand coming to rest upon her shoulder, she still did not look, no use, she knew who it was without a breath of doubt.
"Letting your abilities get the better of you, again? You must stop this foolish habit, stop reading science and pick up something science fiction for once…"
That same pale hand would come to grab at books, which in reality the illusion would not be able to take hold of, and flip to a page which he would have not been able to see, but this was an illusion and that made all the difference in the world to these two.
"Why did you have to leave, so early…?"
"I kept you alive don't be ungrateful child, I can easily bring us to terms, and I'd happily continue my research…"
"Silence, I beg of you, I understand…"
"Get on with it then, why was I called forth dear. You know how straining this is for yourself…"
The corpse reanimated, had blonde hair, dusty and splotched with blood from a long dead creature. A pair of large rimmed glasses sat quite happily upon the bridge of an imprinted nose. Glaciers shifting within his eyes, piercing blue, never to shimmer among the sunlight above, never again; the rest of his bony dead body, appearing brand new, without a scrape, was clothed in primary colors of black and white. White dress shirt, black tie, a pair of black slacks, black shoes, covered in dust. Someone had put him on the shelf, and had forgotten about the poor fellow.
"I had another dream"
It was a mumble, but there was nothing he could not hear, he did not have mortal ears.
"Well if that's all, here's my classic, it's a human experience you'll get used to it speech… unless… there's more?"
Silence filled the basement like study, awkward at first, then he understood.
"Now calm down hon... this is what you're here for, you'll do fine…have faith in yourself, I wouldn't have left you in charge if I didn't think you could handle things…"
He nodded and gave a pat upon the woman's head a few times, smiled, adjusted his glasses, and turned away.
"Trust me…whatever it is, you'll get through it-"
"Mel! Melody you down here?!"
A sudden burst of light escaped from a flight of revealed stairs, the silhouette screamed louder, he wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Mel?!"
"Yeah... yeah I'm here..."
The lights flickered on and off for a moment, candles blown out, the sound of electricity echoed throughout the brightened quarters.
"I've been looking all over town for ya' and yer' hiding down here again, we got a commotion up at the tav' an' Ray can't handle it all his own…"
Melody had beautiful blonde hair, it was worn up in a bun at this time, she didn't like her hair getting in the way of her work. Closing a nearby book, she stacked it on a nearby neat pile of oddly, dull, colored texts, she was looking for something. The woman stood, turned, and placed both hands against the curve of her hips. This girl was wearing a bulky dress shirt, sleeves bunched up her arms, the only thing holding the clothes to her body was a pair of tight suspenders, attached to the belt loops of a pair of mining slacks. In other words, the beautiful woman could be mistaken as a man, with just the slightest change.
"You left Ray… alone, at the tav'? don't ya' remember- whoa!"
"There's no time ta' be arguing, get goin'!"
A rough hand grabbed her young counter, lifting her gentle body to stumble after him. Through this clean study, he dragged her, up the stairs, through the door; but before she could be fully pulled away from this sanctuary Melody glanced behind with a gentle sigh. There was no blood, no dust; it was almost as if the girl had spent the entire night of insanity, cleaning. She fumbled, hand fighting to find the switch for the blinding lights. They were put out, leaving the room of illusions to be bathed in darkness once again. Above, the light would shine down from breaks in the ceiling, high above the humid city.
"So what exactly is going on Ace?"
She sighed; there was no end to the list of possibilities as to what could be going on up there.
"You'll see once we get there hon, it shouldn't take long for ya' to figure it out!"
The man who was justly identified as Ace, a bulky muscled figure, a miner; Ace had a calm voice, only to Mel, and children, everyone else would receive his boiling blood. Out of all the caretakers Melody had received, he was the most current, and most protective.
"Ugh…Ace, this better not be some sorta' prank, er' nothin'… remember last time..."
The frustrated tom' rolled her eyes, and was angrily pulled away. Del Mar, a beautiful little place in the middle of nowhere. Above, a vast, wasteland filled to the brim with nothingness. There was absolutely nothing to see for miles, only the mirage of one's own insanity. A lone train platform sat among the weathering sand, there was not much commotion here, once every few months maybe, but nothing more. Light was not a problem. Green filtered rays lit the city during bright times of the day, but they could not be directly vulnerable to the sun. When this place had finally been established, sun windows were created, sand melted and welded smoothly to form green panes of crystallized minerals. Some buildings were made of this as well, some made of sandstone, some just pieces of wood they could import, but mainly natural resources were all they had.
This city, of one man's dreams, was built in the hopes for an equal world. The desert had not received water from the skies since the day it was declared a city, in this country, and every day since, the hot weather becomes even more unbearable still. It would prove to be the civilization's demise at one point. There it was a lone little wooden building, the second oldest structure in the span of the city. Across the doorway, above, a large piece of some sort of wood, a plank, held the paint reading "tavern" sloppily where everyone could see. There was an upstairs, but this was a greedy inn, none of the rooms above were open to the public.
A ruckus escaped from within, and the two stood there with stupid expressions, Ace seemed almost scared, maybe a little disappointed as he slapped his forehead with a large palm, Melody's darkening look sent shivers through his spine.
"Ace, your gun…" He jumped, "WH-what? B-but its… is it really needed?"
"Gun- Hand it over. Now."
There was a sudden crash from inside the tavern, Melody lunged towards him, tearing the slacks away and jerking a rather bulky gun strapped to the inside of his large leg. Ace stood there in his boxers, barely any expression left in his face, the woman who he treated as a daughter, just threw herself at him, tore his pants away, and stole the one thing he hid underneath those baggy things, well, that was seen.
"Stand back…"
Melody spat, she was reared up and ready to pounce. Loading the weapon with a swift movement of the hand, and an audible click, the tomboy rushed into the flimsy wooden door. Splinters went flying, the hinges becoming speeding death traps of rusted metal and nails.
Screaming filled the musty air of the tavern, as the dust cleared, it was still unsure as to how many civilians were inside. A man had been pushed over by the flying door, and each hinge seemed to take their targets to break a bottle a-piece. No women or children thank the heavens, but there was something going on none the less. A banner was hung over the majority of the ceiling space; decorations were set up, a cake placed on one of the largest tables. Melody, for the first time, had crashed her own party.
The room was silent, Ace slowly sauntered in with an agitated expression, pants still missing as he threw up his arm half heartedly and m uttered,
"Surprise"
His voice cracked, another moment of silence. The gun fell to the floor, picking up dust as the weight lifted dirty floor boards slightly. There was nothing more, no voice, just eyes staring at the shocked blonde tomboy who had jumped to conclusions all too quickly. Suddenly, a giggle, just the quietest little laugh, broke the silence, before breaking out into a full throttle maniacal cackling. Now there was nothing more, nothing more than fear of this crazed laughing. It stopped, abrupt, ending with a short lasted giggle. And then more silence.
"Heh…"
Melody scoffed,
"Happy birthday?"
A grin crept coyly across her lips, and as many knew, you couldn't be caught frowning when Melody allowed a smile. Cheers rang out from every man in the room, even the man who had been impaled by the flimsy wooden panel.
"Sorry boys didn't mean ta' ruin the surprise…"
Melody sighed and kicked up a chair, a few others went to free the trapped pedestrian, who was flailing about.
"Well that's alright luv', let's just ave' a good time, eh?"
Ace chuckled a little, grabbing an extra pair of slacks from a shelf behind the bar in the back of the room; the relieved woman returned the chuckle and nodded,
"Eh."
She grinned, causing Ace to roll his grey eyes,
"I'll never understand you"
"Oh, but Ace, you don't need to….; grab us some glasses, cold ones all 'round!"
The crowd cheered again as filled glasses were practically tossed out towards each man. The cake was out and passed to whoever accepted the offer, they were having a good time, that's what Del Mar was mostly famous for, for simply being, fun. But Del Mar, had another somewhat unfortunate shadow, being a sweet smelling flower to any bandit, mercenary, murderer, and felon, who wanted to turn their life around. You didn't find the city, the city found you. Music lightened up the air quickly enough, singing from rowdy, muscled workers as they swished glasses back and forth. It was Melody's birthday, a great day to celebrate, but an appropriate day to mourn, for years before, something terrible had occurred, it was the price of power. Everyone knew it was this way, and everyone understood, but would rather keep the special girl, happy.
"Getting young in your old age, huh girly?"
One of the men, drinking near by, hopped up onto the bar with a sort of giggle. Mel slapped him on the back with a playful laugh, nodding.
"That I am my friend that I am…"
The music slowly died, a fully clothed Ace walked back into the room, she hadn't even noticed he had gone, the lights dimmed softly, all except for the gas lamps around Melody.
"M'lady…"
He said with his softly hidden accent,
"On this your birthday…your boys have a little something to present to you, oh boys!"
The men in the room all suddenly took tables, groups of men, sly little grins upon their lips.
"Squad one…show up your gifts-"
"Whoa, whoa, gifts, boys… come on…"
Melody blushed as the first table closest to the bar, stood, approached and bowed at the woman's feet. Their leader, a handsome, tall, shirtless, muscular, worker; he was gorgeous, but Melody wasn't interested. He produced a beautifully melded tiara of some sort, it had crystals and a jewel galore, set within, and was fit for anyone of royalty. The young girl blushed and lowered her head, for those rough hands to place the delicate prize upon her blonde head. The man backed away, they all kneeled, and the crowd proceeded to cheer. Squad one returned to their seats, Ace held his hands behind his back, projecting his loud voice.
"Squad two!"
Again, the next table stood, approached their newly crowned princess. Kneeling, a woman was this squad's leader; she presented the young leader with a cage, rather small, a sheet covering the iron bars. Melody was curious. The sheet was lifted, and within was a golden, brilliantly colored little bird fluttering about the confines. The young princess's eyes widened, she brightened a little, taking the cage daintily and smiled back to the young squad leader.
"Thank you…"
The other nodded; they backed away, and returned to their table. Ace continued to call off squad numbers; it would go on this way for several hours. Hours had gone by, and fifty five squads had presented gifts and trinkets for the princess. Melody sighed, frustrated, she was practically taken over with presents, boxes, jewelry, the bird perched on her shoulder gently as it trilled happily, people had always wondered how she had the powers she did over animals like this.
"Ace... I'm done... come on, no more..."
She groaned to him, he simply returned the complaint with a little puppy dog face, throwing himself at her feet, clinging to those legs.
"Ace... get off of me, I'll break your face..."
Melody rolled her eyes; he suddenly jumped back, doing a crab walk on his fingers and tippy toes,
"I-I forgot."
He stuttered,
"Yeah... I know."
A smirk spread across her lips, she rolled her eyes again and nodded.
"Alright, alright... bring up the last of them, but only this time, next time I won't be so giving…."
She gave a soft laugh. Ace chuckled, clapping both large hands together. There was silence, he clapped again. Silence, Ace's anger began to rise slowly.
"Where the hell is squad fifty-six and fifty seven?!"
Murmurs escaped, they continued to wait, but the squad number fifty-sex and fifty-seven were both missing their leader, squad fifty-seven missing more than that even. The woman of the evening, her eyes widened.
"Report! Where the hell are your squad leaders, fifty-six?!"
The remaining members, a large bulked up, heavy weight, and a lanky skin and bones, they looked at each other and sighed. The larger one, low on brain cells, more bronze than brain, he spoke in a deep voice.
"Trace… he…"
The other, the second half to the big guy's train of thought, finished his sentence.
"He's gone ta' settle 'is scores…"
Another set of murmurs, Melody hopped down from the bar and pushed past Ace with a disgusted look upon her face.
"Mel…relax, our boys'll take care of it…"
The two sitting at squad fifty-six's table, stood as she went for the door.
"Where are your others…squad fifty-seven?"
She glared softly; they would tremble a bit and look down.
"Squad…where is your leader, where are your others?!"
They flinched, all except for one of the seven, Ace was in their squad, but not involved here, his brother Ray, was gone, part of the missing few. The rest of the men were random citizens. The tallest, dark skinned, youngest man spoke.
"They're with…Sy…I think they intended on-"
"That fucked up bloody- I would never in all my life- god damned balan' fucking my birthday, somebody should teach the motha' fuck-"
Melody rushed out the door, grabbing the large gun from the ground near the bar, she loaded it angrily. The room was trembling, scared as hell, no one had seen their leader this angry since years before, this was bad-Ace gave a mumble.
"This… is bad…"
The muscle factory, and the skeleton, Agony, Pain, they were good friends with the missus here, only on account of their leader, Trace McGret; but that was a longer story.
"I can't believe those two dipshits would do something like this… on my birthday."
The group would walk, the darkness was getting worse; darkest before the dawn, the bunch had pretty much partied till the sun came up. Sounds echoed through the on-coming silence, if any louder, the screams could probably be heard across the length of the city.
"That doesn't sound like Sy or Trace…"
Melody spoke to herself, urging the two behind her to hurry,
"Let's get'…"
Gun lifted over her shoulder, they ran towards the origin of the sounds, down an alleyway through a labyrinth of stone pathways and narrow walls. The screams suddenly stopped, causing all three alley-goers to stop short in their tracks, only to sprint around the nearest corner. A gruesome scene was theirs to behold, blood everywhere, dead bodies, at least three of them around but Ray wasn't there and neither of them was Trace or Sy. They weren't here,
"O-oh my god…my boys."
Melody's eyes immediately welled up with tears, she stumbled forward, shaking them away, refusing emotion, and her eyes turned angrily and shed tears of furious rage.
"Agony, pain-"
They both saluted strictly,
"Get these boys back to the bar, tell Ace ta' see what he can do…"
Both nodded, picking up a dead body until there were none, carefully, but as fast as they possibly could, both scurried back to the bar. The young woman stayed, angrier than she had ever been, but she had felt this anger before, in a lost memory. Blood stained the cobblestone below her feet, but the girl seemed more than able to ignore it.
"Melody…"
A raspy voice whispered from the shadows, a large hand, and then an arm threw out into the dim light, dragging a beaten corpse behind them.
"S-sy…and Mc-Mc-McGret…"
It was Ray,
"O-on the roof…shot down…somewhere in the shadow-uhn!"
The man groaned in pain as he fell.
"Ray!"
Running towards him, tears frustratedly running down her cheeks; Clicking echoed throughout the darkness, eyes widening, her body stopped in her tracks, standing in front of the seemingly dying man. Guns, the barrels shining in the dim moonlight. Where Ace laid, from behind the dark veil, a dusty uniform, in fact Melody had to rub her eyes to give it a second look. Gray, almost white in this pale source of light, hair below an issued uniform cap.
"Soldier…"
She merely growled, cocking the gun over her shoulder again. The new man merely smirked, digging the point of his boot into any of Ace's unseen wounds.
"My dear…"
The woman sneered, he continued to speak,
"Good evening my lady, my name is Major Grey, my first name is of no concern to you, but what is fairly simple dearest…"
The guns moved a little, each hidden shooter loading and pressing their fingers to the triggers.
"I'm here to conquer your cute little city-state…"
A sharp grin shed over his lips, teeth shining in the pale moonlight, the woman seemed to look at her situation, surrounded by men with guns, in the dark, unable to move.
"Where's Sy and Trace? Did you kill them too…?"
She was pissed, ambushed, and between a rock and a hard place. Two men she had grown up with could possibly be dead, happy birthday.
"Most likely…"
He shrugged, causing Melody to readjust her weapon under clenched fists.
"But I have a surprise for you…and he's not dead, yet-"
"Mommy!"
A figure ran past Grey and clung to the woman's leg, tears streaming down a little boy's face. He had pale hair, not white, not grey, but pale brunette like creamed coffee. Red eyes opened and he stared up looking for any sign of comfort, something snapped within his mother and her hand came to rest against his cheek to wipe these tears away.
"You bastard…I'll kill you."
Melody's eyes flashed red, the little boy still clinging to her legs, she forced him to let go so her arms could hoist his little body onto her back, two little hands locked together around the neck he was so familiar with.
"You killed the men I- I care about my city…but those two…its unforgivable!"
"I wasn't asking for your forgiveness little one…I'm sorry to disappoint…your lovers are dead."
Silence filled the alleyway, fingers clenched against the gun hard as her finger tips pressed so hard into the metal that the gun itself began to crush under the pressure. A shot rang out, all heads lifted up as a man from the darkness, one of the soldiers; fell forth into a puddle of his own blood. Melody did not look, only saw this moment as a time of opportunity, jumping to the side, into the pitch of night, glints of her large gun could be seen as it was useless, only to be used as a blunt object. The angered girl took down any and every man in her way and in less than a minute or two gone by she was back out into the light, a long whistle came as her rampage ended.
"Man that's what I call sexy, you just work it!"
She glanced up, two shadows standing beside one another, as one of the silhouettes was a great deal taller and bulkier than the other.
"A mother kicking ass, with a little boy attached to her back, my my, what a looker."
"Quit your yapping mutt, see that ring on her finger, she belongs to me-"
Suddenly there was a pause, he began to scream,
"Hey bitch where's that ring?!"
She replied, already passed the point of being completely pissed,
"What do you mean I belong to you, ya' bastard! I don't belong to anyone! Damn it Sy!"
Melody turned sharply with a large grin, eyes blaring red, "Now…your men are all out of commission what are you-"
He was gone, as if that mysterious grey haired soldier had never been standing there. Ace struggled to stand, limping to the woman's side, he looked to the dead bodies that lay around, puddles of some blood, Melody had nearly blown ever one of their heads clean off.
"Well he got out of there fast…"
Mel sighed and reached a hand back to play with the young boy's hair, smiling happily she looked back up to the shadows until her sparkling blue irises narrowed and rolled a little in annoyance.
"You two are in so much trouble..."
They stepped back a little, as if scared of the mother herself, Sy replaced himself where he stood before, he was the larger shadow; The second shadow ran and jumped from the roof, landing beside the blonde haired beauty.
"Baby! I missed you!"
The man would exclaim as much, throwing his arms to the side as if expecting the same reaction, but he was sadly mistaken to receive a quick strike to the back of his head. His name was Trace, often called the regretful one, for obvious reasons, but to Melody he was just Trace and, everything else in the world. The lanky man gave a yelp as he began to rub his newly attained wound, trying to make the pain subside. The larger man, who had decided to stay on top of the building, he looked uptown towards where they had come from and laughed a bit.
"I've got a bad feeling...back to the tavern."
With a grunt, he turned and began to walk at his own pace. The two down in the dark alley simply stood there, waiting until Sy's footsteps weren't audible any longer, and Melody stared back at her little boy who was fast asleep from a dose of pure fear and stress.
"Poor little guy…"
Trace whispered, the pain had disappeared and so he just hung his head low, the woman was sure about what was running through his mind.
"Look, Trace… you don't have to-"
His hand rushed forward, pressing a finger to her lips,
"I'm not a child; please don't tell me what I don't have to do..."
The man smiled lightly, the pale light seemed to give them a sort of spotlight, you could see him more clearly. Trace, he was like Agony, lanky and bony with barely any weight to his body. The man's hair was short and choppy on one side of his face; the bangs on the other side were long and reached past the curve of his chin, hiding his left eye. Although Trace wasn't the best looking, and didn't have much to show off, he never wore a shirt unless it was absolutely necessary, only a pair of slacks and suspenders, even to bed.
"Now, come on...let's get back… I'm sure everyone's worried sick about- OH! Oh my god… your gift, okay, just…um, wait here."
He placed both arms out front trying to place a plan into action, he suddenly ran into the darkness, but within a split second, reappeared with a bloody, neatly wrapped box with a tattered bow tied around it.
"What…did you send it through the slaughter house first?"
She teased a bit and happily would take it with both hands, sticking her tongue out at him. Trace looked worried for a split second, tears dripping from tired eyes, trailing and falling to the ground as he did the same, falling to his knees.
"I'm sorry…I-"
Melody began to walk away, rolling her eyes,
"Relax... it's a joke, now, come on, I'll open it when we get back."
She simply stared down at the box, wondering what was on the inside of these bloodied confines. Trace looked up, wiping the tears away when she wasn't in front of him any longer, blinking and nodding.
"W-wait up!"
Trace would yell as he proceeded to chase after, coughing a bit and standing close by. There was nothing but silence, until Melody stopped about halfway to readjust Tuono's position on her back.
"Mel…let me take him dear."
He offered, feeling as though he owed her something, it seemed to be his entire fault. Trace held his hands out in a friendly manner, waiting, Melody agreed and placed the bloody package under one arm then continued to hand the child over to the man's scraggly embrace.
Trace chuckled a bit, placing him on his own back, the kid seemed to bring him great joy, a grin immediately spreading cross his own lips,
"Hey buddy…"
He chuckled again, bouncing around cautiously, eyes glistening in the moonlight,
"Now let's get you somewhere safe, huh?"
Melody couldn't help but smile at this show of affection, and always wondered why they had such a close bond, the hand off caused Trace to let out a soft whistle the rest of the trip.
"Hey Trace…"
She whispered, a bit of hair from her bangs covering her pretty blue eyes as she looked down,
"Hm?"
He glanced up with a curious expression; he had been distracted by the tune he had begun to whistle earlier.
"I need to ask a favor of you…"
She lifted her head to the ceiling of their city,
"Yeah, sure anything Mel, what is it?"
Now as curious as ever Trace began to blush, looking down, he had always gotten nervous talking to her one on one like this.
"Can you get me safe passage across the desert?"
Trace perked up and stared over at her,
"A-a-across the desert?"
He stuttered,
"W-w-w-why would you want to go…to Central?!"
Trace stumbled backwards, almost falling on his back, but he quickly regained his balance remembering little Tuono on his back.
"They'd eat you alive out there, Mel you can't be serious! Just after this little incident, come on, it was nothing! Please don't tell me you want to-"
Melody simply continued to walk,
"I have friends there…Roy Mustang-"
He continued to stutter and fall about like a drunken fool,
"The Colonel!? That dog?! Mel please say you're kidding me!"
Beginning to pull at his hair he stomped a foot onto the ground, Tuono began to stir.
"Scar-"
At this Trace turned completely white,
"Y-y-y-you…mean that big guy?"
She nodded,
"With enough persuasion I could have the whole damned military down here in no ti-"
Trace fell over, face first, twitching a bit. He threw himself up into the air, twitching and chased after her still completely white.
"On one condition!"
"Name it."
"I'm coming with you!"
There was silence, she stopped in her tracks and Trace ran in front of her holding out his pinky.
"Swear it, come now Mel you have ta' let me go…"
The man was completely serious, and a bit scared for a moment before Melody raised her eyes from the shadow of her hair and chuckled.
"Deal..."
He stared as she took his pinky in hers and gave him a sincere smile, then continued to walk past him with a jaunty whistle. The box was still under her arm, and she seemed completely unchanged by the turn of events, but Trace was left standing there red as a beet and frozen still. Melody walked, and walked, almost disappearing before letting out a shout back to his frozen statue.
"You coming with or not?!"
Trace snapped back, and sped off into the distance, a trail of dust following close behind.
"Now...how you are going to pay for this little adventure, I suggest-"
Trace had a sly smile creeping over his lips before the woman forced her fist across the back of his head,
"Alright, alright it was just a suggestion!"
Both voices echoing off into the distance, back to the Tavern to plan for a trip to the unknown reaches of beyond the desert sands.