Muffy had a knack for nailing taste, the dress she chose for me was perfect, in my favorite shade of forget-me-not blue. It had a high neckline and a white puritan colar which was comfortingly modest, darker blue ribbons covered the hems. Cutwork white lace trimmed the three-quarter's length sleeves and bottom of the skirt giving the whole dress a very classy feel.
The shoes she chose me were admittedly rather hard to walk in, they were spike-heeled white stilettos which barely-there ankle straps and I had to lock my knees to walk in them. I would've asked for something with a slightly more natural arch but after a better inspection of her room it was quite apparent to me she didn't own anything that could be deemed as even slightly practical.
"Oh! You absolutely must let me do your make-up too!" Muffy insisted excitedly.
"No, no, that's really not necessary," I protested as politely as I could.
"Come on! Don't be like that! It'll be fun!" She argued cheerfully.
"I've... well, I mean I've never worn make-up before."
"Well, there's always a first time for everything. Now hold still"
And before I knew it she had begun caking a variety of different products onto my face.
"First we should start with some moisturizer to make your skin shiny," she began wiping the cool liquid onto my face, "And then just a bit of liquid foundation to cover any blemish and some bronze to extenuate your better features."
"Which shade of eyeshadow do you think? Light blue or... never mind, differently light blue, it matches the dress better. Look up. Now blink... blink again. Okay, other side, look up again. Good, good. Okay now for the finishing touch..."
She dabbed a small amount of a peachy pink lipstick onto my mouth. My eyes felt heavy under the weight of all the make-up and it took a great deal of self-control not to rub at it. She smiled happily obviously proud of the final result, handing me a little hand mirror to inspect myself in.
"What do you think?" She asked.
I gazed at myself, I didn't look at all like I had before. Gorgeous, certainly, but almost unsettlingly so.
I smiled not wanting to disappoint her, "Looks great!"
And just like that were were gone, the blond haired dame was tugging me down the stairs, out the door and into the brisk winter world. We didn't bother with breakfast, Muffy didn't believe in eating it anyways.
At the dock we were greeted by an older man with aged white hair dressed in an all white uniform. Behind him a young girl, probably no older than Kent or Stu, dressed in a little white dress clasped around the waist with a red belt of the exact same color that her shoes were. She smiled curiously at me.
"Hello... My name is Kirk. I'm the captain of this ferry. We go to the mainland on Mondays and Thursday between 6AM to 6PM. May I have your fairs?"
Muffy placed a small amount of money in his hand and we boarded the ship. Seagulls swarmed the skies above us squawking and shrieking back and forth. The soft swishing and rocking of the waves was very soothing to the ears but also not so good for walking on high heels. I unclasped the little buckles and decided to carry them around rather than wearing them. Behind me I could here the soft thumping of a young child running my direction. I turned to be greeted by the same young girl from earlier, her tiny little brown curls tousled in the wind and she raised to catch up with Muffy and I.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"Elli," I answered.
"OK. I've never seen you before. I'm Kate. My daddy is a captain of a ship. I love milk! I wish we had some to drink on board the ship."
"Well I'll see if I can find some for you while Muffy and I are in the city, is that alright with you Muffy?" I asked, she nodded nonchalantly.
"Welp! Gotta go! Daddy needs me to help navigate the ship. See ya!" She skipped off happy as could be.
We didn't wait there long before a classy yellow car wheeled in. The person behind the wheel was a 5'9" man with blond hair and brown eyes. He wore a bright red sleeveless gi with a black belt tied around his waist. He reeked of arrogance although he didn't seem like an especially bad man.
"I heard you came into town early. Thought I'd come to pick you up, ladies shouldn't have to walk everywhere you know," Ken laughed boisterously.
Muffy giggled, "Oh thank you Ken!"
He opened the door to the car for her to get in, "I brought a friend along, I hope you don't mine her tagging along as a third wheel. She's new around these parts and I was trying to show here around.
"Not a problem! Jump in little lady!"
I shuffled into the back seat uncomfortably while Muffy settled herself up from beside her date. Ken sped off, the car must've been moving at light speed! It was so fast! I'd never been in a car before and I was shocked at how quickly everything disappeared behind us. I gazed out the rear window.
Another car pulled in behind us, tailing almost to our bumper. There was a screech as it pulled over into the lane next to us.
"Hmph, well aren't you a hotshot?" Chuckled our driver, hands twitching on the wheel. I heard a chugging sound and then the roar of he floored the acceleration.
The fell behind them nearly 20 miles, the adjusted the mirrors proud. Only a second later the car had reappeared beside us in the next lane. I held my breath, my heart pounding with excitement. Was this a street race? I'd seen them on TV but I didn't think it was something normal.
"The hell?! You've gotta be jokin' me." He muttered, completely ignoring Muffy's insensate chit-chat.
The car's rear end suddenly went out as we bent a heavy corner around the road way, but we were still moving along without issue, Muffy meantime was blissfully unaware of the events passing by under her tiny button nose. When they exited the curve Ken attempted to floor the acceleration on the car once again, trying to pull ahead, but it was no use, they were still side to side.
He slowed, the sound of the accelerator softening for a moment as he prepped for the upcoming turn which looked rather sharp. He slammed on the accelerator and drifted into the tight corner. But the turn was just too tight, the car spun out of control! Power sliding into a sidewalk while the other car steamrolled away. The other driver rolled down a window and made a peace sign at Ken. He laughed, grinning from the adrenaline fueled high he'd gotten and made a peace sign out the window to the other driver before wheeling off. Muffy was still going on about this new drink that Griffin was teaching her to mix, something about blueberry cordial and heavy cream. I was still dizzy from the race when we pulled into a restaurant.
I buckled my shoes back on as he parked.
Ken opened the door for both Muffy and I and the three of us headed inside, the place was very classy. Chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, vases filled with roses and candles lit at the tables, the whole staff was dressed in very formal attire.
We were seated at a small little table and our waiter set a bucket with champagne on the table.
"Good evening monsieur and madams. What would you prefer for your dining experience today, our specials are Moët & Chandon Bi Centenary Cuvée Dry Imperial and Goût de Diamants although I can get you something darker if you'd prefer." Our waiter offered.
"We'll take both," Ken announced, boisterously.
He poored a glass for Muffy and then me. I suddenly felt out of place: Shat was I doing here? Tagging along on someone else's date, I'd never been a third wheel and I had to figure a way out.
"I'll be right back." I blurted out and rushed off to the bathroom.
I took a deep breath, examining myself in the mirror. My shoulder length brown hair was longer than it'd ever been in my life and was pushed back behind a soft blue headband. It was hard to see myself, I'd lost so much weight and the make-up only further exaggerated my fine features. Who'd have known I had such a delicate bone structure underneath all that fat. I examined myself again, I almost missed the way I'd looked before. The powdery make-up make my skin look even paler than normal and flaky, which bothered me.
Everything seemed different, I wasn't even dressed like me, the dress I was wearing was too short, the shoes were painfully uncomfortable, I was tall and so... so thin. The only thing that I could recognize... from head to toe, the only piece of me left unchanged by recent events, were my eyes. They were still their normal, dull shade of brown. Boring, ordinary brown eyes. My eyes. At least something of myself remained untarnished.
I felt my mental fortitude returning. I stepped out of the bathroom, I just needed to tell Muffy I was done for the evening and I'd see here later.
"You stood up our fight today to go on a date with your girlfriend?!" A man shouted from across the room.
"It ain't like that man. I was just chilling with my old friend Muffy, I lost track of time!" I heard Ken say.
"You know what, FUCK YOU! I didn't come here to argue, I came here to fight you!" He roared, I heard the sound of a table shattering like a glass goblet as they came into view.
The other man was dressed in white, his clothing was more tattered than Ken's but in a similar style. He wore red gloves and had a red sash tied around his forehead.
"I'm ready for ya, bring it on!" Ken shouted, pulling himself up off the floor while the wait staff fled to the backroom.
Ken back flipped up away from the table while his assailant made a running jump towards him. He made a swift kick upwards, bashing Ken in the jaw, then slamming his foot straight into Ken's face.
"The strongest fighter always wins Ryu, you can't defeat me." He taunted, as Ryu powered up a surge fist, a wave of punches that plowed into the arms of the now defensively stanced Ken.
Just as the first fast punch was about to land, Ken lept up unto the arm, flipping 360 in the air out of move's path of trajectory.
A white clad leg swung down in a sweeping motion as Ken landed, intending to knock him off his feet. Muffy began sobbing.
I had to get her out of their before she got hurt. I heard another crash as Ken flew out of the way of yet another wave of punches from our random... guest.
He dangled by his arm from one the the chandeliers, briefly, before flying down and kicking Ryu in the face.
I raced past them and grabbed my newest blond friend by the arm and drug her away as she continued crying.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" I insisted as she tried to pull away.
"I need to talk to him, I thought I was... I was..." She sobbed.
I pulled her along after joining the throg of people on the city sidewalks. We'd be hard to locate here.
"Wh-what about all movies we went togother... what about all the dinners we had out... didn't that mean anything?!" She wailed.
"Muffy, I don't know whether that meant anything or not, but that man is dangerous and you should probably stay away from him."
She gave me a paintive look.
"I just want someone to love me..." She sighed.
I sighed.
We stopped at a little corner store to pick up a carton of milk for Kate and and sat by the dock waiting for the Ferry to come in. Muffy rested on my shoulder, her tears had become more intermitent.
The sunset in the distance, fractals of gold and ruby red flooded the horizon as the boat came in.
We boarded as before. Captain Kirk looked more withdrawn than before, not even speaking to us when boarded.
I wandered around the ship looking for the young girl who'd asked me to fetch her some milk while Muffy rested in a booth.
After almost an hour of wandering we landed at the Forget-Me-Not port.
"Kate asked me to get her this in the city earlier today, I couldn't find her wandering around so I figure, since you're her father, perhaps you could give it to her?" I gave the carton of milk to the ship's captain.
He looked perplexed, "Who?"
"Kate, your daughter, she asked for it earlier." I said.
"I'm sorry, miss, I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about." The captain said, returning it to me.
Muffy and I walked back into town in silence.
"Would you like to stay here tonight?" Muffy asked glumly as we stepped into the bar.
I needed to get a break from her, sure, she was a nice woman. But she did start to grate after time and I was starting to really need my space. And things... well, they just seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.
"If it's okay, I think I'd rather stay at the Inner Inn for now until I figure out a way home." I answered.
"Hehe, that's fine. I understand." Muffy said almost too cheerily. I knew she was faking it but I appreciated the effort on her part to keep smiling.
Today had been a hard day for here but everything in last few days had been terrifying for me. I just needed some time to myself to recuperate mentally. I'd lost my home, my family, my community. I didn't know anyone here or even where I was relative to my home. It was a lot to take in.
"Well, I'm going to head back for the night. I'll see you later!"
"Have a good night sweetie!"
Outside the world around me glowed. I've always liked the winter, the air is so pure and it's really makes my sense of smell keener. I could smell the ocean on the breeze, the beer, wine and rum still being served in the tavern, the cedar wood the Blue Bar had been made from. That and it's the best time of year to bake pies and the cream never spoils if you forget to put it away. It was a great sales season for the bakery too, everyone would be coming in for hot tea and cake and Jack would always be coming home early since there was a lot less farm work to do. Fishing might be harder to do in the winter, but since Jack had more free time him and I would often go down to the river to fish together before Cocote was born.
I took a deep breath of the fresh air, I could feel it cool me too the bones and it felt nice. Everything was so crazy now! I just wanted to breath. In, out, in, out, at least breathing was still them same. I wish all this chaos would come to an end, nothing seemed right without Jack without Cocote! And even... if it was like Griffin said, even if my life had been a dream, things here still seemed a little strange. What had happened to that brown haired little girl, Kate? Had she been lying about the captain being her father? Where had she done... I didn't know.
Faintly in the distance I could here chanting...
"ЗouЖпA..."
I followed the chanting down the road.
"ЗouЖпA..."
It seemed to be coming from the manor so I headed up that cul-de-sac.
"ЗouЖпA..."
On the manor's land I could tell right away that the mysterious chanting was coming from an old wooden shack on the far side of the yard. It was rickety covered in frozen cobwebs.
"This is the place. I guess I'll go in..." I muttered nervously to myself, as the knock clicked open.
Inside a blond haired woman with messy wavy hair stood over a caldron, "ЗouЖпA...", "ЗouЖпA...", "ЗouЖпA..." she chanted over and over.
"While it was a mistake... I feel bad for the Harvest Goddess." She muttered.
"But it's really her fault! How dare she turn me down! I was just looking to get into a little mischief!" The blond haired stranger continued to rave.
"Ahhh... why does the Harvest Goddess always complain about everything I do?!" She complained aloud to herself, completely unaware of my entrance.
"Sure every now and then I harass the harvest sprites, beak-up a few sweethearts, make a few animals sick or ruin some crops. And she gets so mad about it! I'm just having fun, why doesn't she understand me?! Why can't she ever understand?! She's such a god damn goody-two-shoes! I can't stand it!" She roared over the caldron, just then spinning on her feels just then noticing me.
"Hey! You heard me, didn't you!" She spat, "What do you think?"
"Uh, I'm not really sure what you're talking about." I answered honestly.
"Isn't the world better off without that Harvest Goddess and her damn sprites?"