Claus

I winced from the pain in my foot as I walked to Podunk, wishing Miss Marshmallow was here to at least keep me company. Sadly she said that she had to return to Porky or else we would both be executed.

A large crash brought me back to reality and I quickly turned my arm into a canon, cautiously walking towards where I heard the sound.

"Ow my wings!" I heard someone yelp as I got closer. I soon saw the voice's owner; he was a short raven haired boy with white wings.

"Who are you!?" I said, aiming my arm cannon.

The boy quickly turned around only to jump back, putting his hands up. "Wah! Don't shoot!"

"Who are you?" I repeated, keeping my guard up.

The boy took a step back. "I-I'm Ninten! L-look I don't mean any harm I'm just looking for someone. I better find him though!" Ninten spoke quickly.

"Who are you looking for?" I asked, keeping the canon aimed at him.

"Cl-claus! Hinawa's son!"

"Why the hell do you want him!?" I snapped.

Ninten yelped. "I was sent here to protect him! I don't know why!"

"Who sent you?"
"H-hinawa did!"

I grit my teeth. "That's impossible she's dead!"

"I-I am too er…." Ninten's voice trailed off. "I was or… Ah! I don't know how to explain it!" Ninten's wings flapped in frustration.

"You better start talking!"
"Okay, okay! Just don't shoot me!"

I lowered the canon, deciding that I had scared him enough. "Talk."

The raven haired boy gulped. "Wh-what do you want to know first?"

"How do you know my mother?"

"Well- WAIT YOUR MOTHER!?" Ninten exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "Just answer the question."

"Well Hinawa is the one who brought me to heaven after I…" Ninten paused and shivered. "S-sorry it's just something I don't like remembering… Anyways, she found me after I was killed by a monster in New Pork City. She brought me to heaven and explained a lot to me. Mostly about what it's like there. After three years my ancestor, Maria, and Hinawa said that I needed to go back to Earth in order to keep her oldest son, Claus, safe… I don't know why though…"

I hesitated before I said anything. "You're telling me you're an angel?"

Ninten nodded. "Sadly I am." His wings drooped down then quickly perked back up. "I'm assuming you're Claus right? Since you said Hinawa was your mother."

I nodded and turned the canon back into an arm, deciding Ninten wasn't much of a threat. "Yeah."

"Great!" Ninten grinned. "I guess I'm your protector or something!"

"Thanks but no thanks." I turned around and started walking away from him.

"W-wait!" I heard wings flapping behind me.

"I can handle myself."

"But I have to stay with you or I'll be disobeying my superiors."

I took a deep breath before making my final decision. "Fine you can come, but stay out of my way." I turned to look at Ninten, who noticeably perked up. "But for the record I'm doing this for mom, not you."

Ninten grinned. "Okay I can deal with that Clausy!"

I grit my teeth at the name he said. "It's Claus. Don't make me change my mind about bringing you along."

"Hm alright. Where to?"

"Podunk."

Ninten stopped suddenly. "N-no… we can't go there."

"Why not?" I tilted my head slightly.

"That's my hometown…"


Ness

"Here we are." I said once me and Lucas approached my house. I dug my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door.

"Thanks for letting me stay here." Lucas said as we walked inside.

"No problem just watch out fo-" I was interrupted by a loud bark and a figure tackling Lucas, knocking him over. "King down!" I yelled to my dog.

"H-hey!" Lucas giggled and pet King as he licked the blonde's face. "You have a dog too huh?" He looked up at me once King decided to listen to me.

"Yeah." I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment. "That's King, he's an old dog. Kinda unreliable as well."

Lucas stood up, fixing his clothes. "He doesn't seem that bad."

"Maybe from first glance…" I glared at King who was sitting back a few feet away from us, his tail wagging.

Lucas giggled. "Well depending on how things go I might have to stick around and find out. If that's alright with you."

"Yeah that's not a problem."

Lucas grinned. "Thanks."

"Guest bedroom is upstairs, second door to the right." I nodded. "You can get some rest if you want, I'll be down here."
Lucas nodded. "Alright." I watched as he vanished upstairs before going over to my desk.

I opened my laptop. Okay I need to do some research on this place. I thought to myself as my computer started up. He said he was from Tazmily right? The place that was blown up? I began researching Tazmily, staying away from sights I didn't trust, but found nothing helpful. I decided to narrow my search down to just three years ago, around the time Tazmily was destroyed. I looked through the results but found nothing helpful. I was about to give up until I clicked another link. I was brought to a page that had several photos on it. The top of the page read "Rest in Peace" I looked through the page. No one survived it? But there has to be someone! I came across a short article at the bottom and read over it. I closed my computer, shocked by what I found.

"Porky Minch.." I frowned once I finished reading. "He's still alive?!"

I heard a soft bark below me. King was tugging at my shoelaces. A routine he always does when he's hungry.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and hopped out of my chair. "Alright King, I'll feed you."

I walked into the kitchen, picking up his bowl. I grabbed the box of dog food and filled the bowl up half way, chuckling as King's ears perked at the familiar sound.

"Alright boy go crazy." I set the bowl down and watched King devour the food.

I looked through my fridge to see if I could make anything for me and Lucas, unfortunately I don't go food shopping often and the only thing in there was a carton of eggs.

I sighed. "Looks like I'll just be making omelets then."


I looked over the two dishes in front of me, rather proud of how they turned out. I heard soft footsteps and looked over to see a half asleep Lucas walk downstairs.

"Hey Lucas are you hungry at all?" I asked.

"A little…" He yawned and sat at the table.

"Well you got down here just in time, I made omelets."

I saw Lucas's face light up. "How did you know that was my favorite food?"

I set a plate in front of him, taking the other and sitting across from him. "Lucky guess."

Lucas chuckled and began eating happily, I stuffed a bite into my mouth before talking again. "Do you know Porky Minch?"

Lucas paused for a second before setting his fork down. "Yeah. He's the one who kind of caused the whole blowing of Tazmily thing."

"He was th-" I was interrupted by a loud ringing from my cellphone. "Hang on a sec." I grabbed my cellphone and answered it. "Hel-"

"Ness I have some very important news." A familiar voice said through the speaker.

"What is it Paula?"

I heard Paula take a deep breath. "I got a call from Ana and Lloyd. You know how your cousin Ninten was killed right? Well apparently he's alive again, along with a boy named Claus. The only difference is Ninten looks like an angel now, wings and all."

"You're kidding right?" I chuckled, not believing her at all.

"I'm not."

"We'll see alright." I sighed. "If it really is them then there has to be something behind it. People don't just come back from the dead unless they're a zombie."

"Yeah don't remind me." I could practically picture Paula's face of disgust when she said that. "I'll make sure to keep you updated if I find anything else out."

"Yeah okay. Talk to you later."

"Bye Ness." I heard a click as the call hung up.

"What was that about?" Lucas asked.

"Claus, Porky, and my cousin Ninten are all alive." I set my cellphone back onto the table.

"What? How is that possible? Claus died and Porky was locked away!" Lucas exclaimed.

"I'm not too sure myself." I took a bite of my omelet. "We should go to Podunk to see what's going on."

"How far away is it?" The blonde asked.

"About an hour to two hour bus ride. We can go whenever you feel like it."

"Alright."


Ninten

This is terrible! I told Claus not to come here and he didn't listen! What am I going to say to Ana and Lloyd if they see me? Oh hey guys turns out I'm alive again? Things don't work like that in real life.

I snapped out of my thoughts when my breathing acted up. I wheezed loudly, causing Claus to look over at me.

"You okay there Ninten?" He asked.

I nodded, not being able to make sounds form into words.

"Doesn't seem like it. How about we stop to rest for a bit."

I coughed, starting to catch my breath. "N-no... I'm fi-fine…"

"If you say so." Claus said as he started to walk again.

I took in the familiar surroundings once my breathing returned to normal. I had to keep myself from greeting a familiar face every now and again. I hate being here now, sure it was a great place when I was alive. Now it's taunting me of a life I could've had. If I hadn't been so stupid!

"What are you going on about?" I jumped when I heard Claus next to me. Did I just say all that out loud?

"Nothing." I sighed. "It's nothing."

Claus didn't seemed convinced but kept walking anyways. I kicked a stone along the way. Hoping not to be questioned. I felt eyes staring into my soul. No doubt it was because of my wings. I kicked the rock one last time until it tumbled into a hole. I kept walking until Claus stopped.

"I have a little bit of money. I'll get us a hotel room for the night." Claus said before walking into the hotel.

"Alright." I said softly and followed him inside.

I half hid behind Claus as he talked to the lady behind the counter. I kept my wings pressed against my back as much as I could, I just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Follow me." He said and lead me upstairs. I followed quickly, not wanting to attract too much attention.

Once we reached our rooms I flapped my wings a little since they got uncomfortable being half hidden like that. "Finally."

"You really don't want to be here do you?" Claus asked, sitting on one of the beds.

"Was it that obvious?" I flopped on the other bed, putting an arm over my eyes. "I just want to rest."

"Angels rest?" Claus asked jokingly. I threw one of my sneakers at him. "Okay I'm not supposed to ask about that then."

"Nope."

"But I do have one question." Claus said. "Why would an angel come back to protect me?"

"I'm not sure about it myself." I set my jacket aside, next to my other sneaker. "I'm sure my superiors have their reasons." I sighed, my wings drooping down. I was about to say something else but was interrupted by Claus's jacket in my face.

"Get some rest. It seems like you need it."

"Yeah yeah." I threw the jacket back at him, that's when I saw his arm. "Woah, what happened to your arm?"

Claus grabbed his robotic arm. "Don't ask, it's a long story." He laid back and turned off the lights. "Just go to sleep."

"Fine." I flopped onto my back, letting my wings stretch out so I would be comfortable. I pulled the covers over myself and closed my eyes, letting myself slip into unconsciousness.