"So... This is really it..."Lillian's voice shook quietly in the early morning sun, fighting back the tears in her already bloodshot eyes with a smile. "You're really going..."
I hugged her tightly. "I am. But I'll write to you – I promise."
Before long, the hourly bus arrived which would take me to the docks.
"Don't worry..." whispered Lillian with a smile, "I'll only cry after you're gone."
Slowly taking the handle of my suitcase in my right hand, I walked toward the bus' closed door. It flung open suddenly, and the driver glanced at me expectantly. Stepping back, I hesitated. I didn't want to leave Lillian just yet. I didn't want her to cry. "Looks like... I forgot something." I said sheepishly, turning back around. The door shut with a clang and the bus left.
"Why'd you do that?" Lillian asked, surprised. "Don't stay on my account. You've got a ferry to catch."
I sat down on the short patch of grass next to the road. "It's fine." I replied, "I'll get the next one."
As the hours passed, the next bus came. I didn't move. It left. As did the next bus. And the next... And the one after that. Leaving home is hard... Leaving your best friend is harder. But the time finally came. The sun was descending below the horizon, and the last bus of the evening arrived. I stumbled to my feet – the lack of circulation from sitting there all day made it hard to walk. Stepping onto the bus felt like entering a doorway far from home, and as I took my seat it all became real. As the bus pulled away, Lillian waved, and I saw a silver tear make a faint trail down her cheek. Getting the late bus meant I'd have to wait until morning to get the ferry, but it was more than worth it.
...
Ann's bed was comfortable, but I had to get up some time. My headache had finally started to fade, though a subtle dull pain still resided there. I wanted to go home and write to Lillian since I hadn't yet had the chance with all the crazy things happening, so I threw back the green bed cover and got to my feet. I was already fully dressed from the day before, and even though I stunk, I had no spare clothes. Nothing for it, I guess. I headed out of the back room into the bar, where as expected, Karen was already drinking.
"Hey, Pony! Feeling better?" she called over in a cheerful voice, waving with her left hand, a bottle of wine in her right. I sat down beside her at the wooden table, alongside Ann and Cliff. "Yeah, much," I replied, "thanks for letting me borrow your bed for the night, Ann."
"Anytime, Pony." Ann smiled, sipping her grape juice. "I was gonna go down to the spring with Popuri, but I wanted to make sure you were doing okay first." She put the glass down. "So anyway, Pony. You never told us all that much about yourself. Where are you from?"
"I'm from Forg—" Karen flinched as the first part of the name came out of my mouth. Does she know...? "I'm from... Bluebell. It's a small town across the sea."
"Can't say I've ever heard of it..." Ann tilted her head, "but cool!"
"So, what are you doing now, Pony?" Karen attempted to change the subject, averting her eyes.
"I was just about to head home."
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the silent Cliff's expression. He looked far away and forlorn, like the love deprived protagonist of a movie.
Note to self; stop comparing people to movie characters.
"Something wrong, Cliff?" My words didn't seem to reach him – his expression didn't even flicker. Karen smiled sympathetically. "Him? He's in love."
Finally realising we were talking about him, Cliff snapped back to reality; his deep brown eyes full of longing and sorrow. "You said it..." he mumbled. "It's..." he sighed. Ann and I leaned in slightly, intrigued, though Karen leaned back knowingly.
"The Doctor..."
Ann's face turned bright red and her blue eyes gleamed, as though she were even more intrigued than before. "So?" I said, "why not just tell him?"
"That's not the issue..." he sounded frustrated. "The Doctor isn't a free man, and so he doesn't have the freedom to love." I was confused. I didn't understand at all. Noticing this in my expression, Karen turned to me. "You know that Elli's a summoner, right?"
I nodded.
"Well, the Doctor's her familiar. Meaning he belongs to her." Cliff nodded sombrely along with Karen's words. She continued. "It's possible for her to release him from his bindings if we could only convince her but, well... At this point in time, Elli's possessed."
"Wait, what?" Cliff instinctively jumped to his feet.
"Yeah... Sorry, man. I'd had a vision telling me so a few weeks ago, but I was trying to exorcise it myself as to not make everyone panic and cause a ruckus... I guess I'm just not strong enough." She shrugged with an innocent smile.
"But Elli seemed so nice when I spoke to her..." I said, barely keeping up. Although I'd only been in Mineral Town for a few days, I couldn't imagine the sweet nurse having been possessed by some unearthly presence. "And what exactly is she being possessed by...?"
"That's just it... I don't know. It's incredibly troubling." Karen's brow furrowed, and she seemed to feel guilty. "As for Elli seeming nice... The possessor only becomes prominent when Elli's stress levels become too high. If we try to persuade her to release the Doctor, this could potentially be extremely distressing for her. So... The first step would be to exorcise the possessor... though it's potentially very difficult to do so..."
"Who cares?!" Cliff raised his voice suddenly, "I don't care how hard it is to set him free. I love him, damn it!"
Ann was starting to act very strange. The blush across her cheeks had only gotten redder, and she was fidgeting with a weird smile on her face. I looked at Karen, perplexed, who giggled back at me. "She has... a weakness for this sort of thing." She said quietly. I remembered seeing the comic books under Ann's bed, and just then it all made sense... I smiled to myself.
Looking at Cliff's agitated face, she addressed him. "Well, then, if you really want to try exorcising Elli's possessor and setting the Doctor free... we need to put together a plan of action."
"All right!" Ann yelled, slamming her fist on the table with a lively determination that seemed unlike her. "Let's do this! For love!" Karen and I exchanged a perplexed look, and then nodded at Ann. That was the first time I'd seen Cliff smile.
About an hour later, we got everyone together; Karen, Cliff, Ann, Popuri, Rick, Mary, and of course, myself. Karen invited Gray along, but she told us he wasn't interested. Probably just as well; he was only human, after all, and he could easily get injured doing this sort of thing. Thinking that made me doubt my own use in this mission, however...
"Okay, guys! It's time for Operation: Love's Exorcism!" Ann shouted, whilst the rest of us cringed at the chosen name...
"So, Ann? What do we have to do?" Rick piped up, arms folded. Ann wavered. "Uhhh..." her confidence seemed to fade away. She had no idea what she was doing... Instead, Karen stepped up. "What we need to do is perform an exorcism. However..." she frowned, "there are no exorcists in town anymore. The last one was Gray's grandfather."
"What about Pastor Carter?" I asked.
"He isn't qualified or experienced enough for the job. Saibara was due to teach him, but..." her voice trailed off. Everyone looked down in sadness. Just what happened to everyone here?
"Anyway... without an exorcist, we can't do this the easy way – but I think I've come up with something that just might work. Everyone listen closely." We all drew closer to Karen. "Mary. Since you're a tiny spirit, you'll be our lookout. Infiltrate the Clinic and keep an eye out for anything that could jeopardise our plan."
"G-got it!" Mary said, determined yet shy.
"Popuri, Rick. You'll be our stressors. You'll be having direct contact with Elli, so be careful. You'll also act as a distraction."
"Stress her out? I hope you know what you're doing..." Rick said.
"Don't worry, I do." Karen replied. "Cliff. Whilst Elli is being distracted, you'll kick down the back door."
"Are you sure that's a good idea...?" Cliff said nervously.
"It'll all work out." Karen smiled, waving a carefree hand. "Ann. Once the back door is open, you'll enter the Clinic with Pony and I. Once Popuri and Rick have stressed out Elli sufficiently, the possessor will begin to show itself. You'll use your Kyuubi powers to temporarily capture Elli's soul. If I'm correct, this should also capture the possessor. Once you release them, the possessor will be back in its physical form. That's when the real fight begins."
"Ooh! I have just the thing for this!" Popuri jumped in excitedly, her candyfloss hair flopping about. Seemingly out of nowhere, she pulled out six portable short-wave radios to use for communication, plus a tiny one for Mary to use. "Walky-talkies!" she squeaked excitedly with a child-like beaming smile on her face, clearly proud of herself. Everyone looked around at each other, wordlessly discussing how it was suspiciously convenient of Popuri to have such equipment. Nevertheless, we all took one and concealed it on our person.
"Remember, in absence of a real exorcist, any part of this mission could go wrong." Karen turned to us all, "I'm counting on you all to make the best of things should that happen."
"Move out!" Ann shouted, saluting. She seemed to be getting a little too into character. With that, everyone was on their way.
...
Before long, the four of us – Ann, Karen, Cliff and myself – were concealing ourselves in a bush next to the Clinic, short-wave radios at the ready should we receive a transmission. It was quite a warm day, and the lack of personal space in that particular shrub was a little too close for comfort – literally. We were all acting as if it was some sort of super undercover spy mission. It felt incredibly silly to handle things this way, but admittedly, it was a lot of fun.
"All clear! Commence distraction!" Mary's voice buzzed out of the transmission devices.
"Popuri! Rick! You're up!" Karen whispered intently. A few minutes passed before barking could be heard from in front of the Clinic, followed by the door creaking open.
"What is it, you two?" came Elli's soft voice.
"Play with us!" woofed Popuri. "Play, Elli! Now! Play fetch with us!"
"Sorry, Popuri... I'm busy labelling medicine bottles right now."
"No, Elli! Play! Play!"
"Uhh..."
"Now's our chance," whispered Karen, "Cliff! The door!"
"On it." Cliff whispered in reply, covertly climbing out of the bush. Once he positioned himself at the back of the Clinic, he transformed into his horse form. With one swift kick of his back hooves, the door was forced open with a bang.
"What on earth was that...?" gasped Elli.
"Uh-oh..." Ann murmured. Karen was still watching the events unfold intently, silently.
"Oh, no... What if my medicine bottles have fallen over? Sorry, Popuri! I have to go!"
"No!" Popuri latched onto the bottom of Elli's dress with her teeth. "Play with us!" she growled.
Karen hopped out of the bush. "Now's our chance!" Ann and I followed behind closely before sneaking in through the back door. "Now what do we do?" panted Ann.
"We wait." Replied Karen. Everything in the Clinic was so... white. It was almost as if it was symbolic of the purity and kindness of Elli herself. Don't worry, Elli... we're here to save you.
"For the last time, I will NOT play with you, brat!" Elli shouted in a distorted voice before slamming the door. As she came into view, her skin had begun to scale over, and a dark red aura-like smoke emanated from her body. Her expression was angry – not befitting of Elli in the least.
"It's here." I told my comrades. Karen nodded, and signalled to Ann.
"What the hell do you think you're doing in my Clinic?!" Elli's voice was almost a roar as her intense eyes tried to burn us up. "I'll kill you all!" Grotesque claws ripped through her fingernails. I was terrified... but I had faith in Karen's plan, and in Ann.
"For Cliff and the Doctor's love... let's do this!" shouted Ann, summoning a blue swirling ball of energy in her left hand. Her nine fiery tails sprouted and ripped through her clothes, just as her fox ears became visible from beneath her hair. "Hah!" she thrust the aura ball at Elli, who shrieked and cowered from the light. The ball struck Elli whose body fell limply on the floor, and returned to Ann like a boomerang.
"Her soul's in here... as well as that thing..." Ann breathed heavily, "now what?"
"Throw it back... but prepare yourself." Karen readied herself, as did I, watching intently. Ann threw the orb back out, and once again caught it on the rebound. Elli's body rose by itself; she was clearly still unconscious. I wondered if she'd be okay... but there was no time for that just then. From Elli's chest came a black spectral chain, and on the other end of it materialised a creature I could hardly stand to look at. Its body was covered in yellow-green scales and it towered above us, glaring down with a furious expression in its dark red eyes. Its crooked claws looked as though they could rip through flesh without trying. I cowered slightly. I wanted to run away... but I forced myself to stand firm, fighting against every impulse in my body.
"It's draining Elli's life force through that chain. We have to get rid of it!" Karen informed us. Ann raced toward it, throwing her energy ball at the beast's heart. The monster only laughed at her; "Foolish human! In this form your aura cannot break through my scaled skin!" It was like something out of a nightmare; the stereotypical villain from a childhood game come to life. Its huge arm swatted Ann down like a fly, and she fell painfully onto the ground.
"Ann!" Karen shouted, rushing to her aid. Cliff ran in and jumped at the monster, but met the same fate; he was only a horse. His strength couldn't match the monster's... and I was only a human. All I could do was watch as it all happened. My friends were in agony... and I couldn't do a thing...
"No way, monster! Stay awaaaaaaay~!" screeched Popuri, as she and Rick jumped onto the beast. Mary, too, started flying around its face, just out of reach, to protect them. The perfect distraction... but what could I do? I wasn't powerful. I wasn't strong like everyone else. Though deep down, I felt a need to prove myself. My eyes scanned the room at hyper speed, and landed upon the Clinic's emergency fire axe propped up in the corner. Beast distracted, I dashed across the floor and grabbed the axe. It was too heavy for a rookie farmer like me, but the adrenalin rushing through my body didn't know it. I grabbed the axe, and with one heavy swing, I violently plunged it into the chain connecting the disgusting creature to Elli.
"How..." the monster stumbled to its knees as the chain snapped to pieces, "how dare you...! I will be avenged...!" the monster melted away, its screams chilling us all to the bone – but we knew we'd done it. A huge blue beam of light shot from Elli's mouth, making a huge hole in the ceiling, and her body fell limply to the floor. Well... that was weird. My arms finally realising they couldn't hold such a heavy axe and dropping it to the floor, I rushed over to carry her to the sofa.
"What the hell..." Everyone's attention turned to the door where Gray had finally decided to join the party. He rolled his eyes. "Can't go five seconds without making a mess, huh." He walked over to me. "Get Elli onto the beach. The sea air will help her. I guess I'll help you carry her or whatever..."
"Gray... thanks." I said, holding up one side of her body. I looked over to Ann and Cliff. Though they took a beating, they seemed to be able to hold themselves up. I was glad.
...
We all hurried to the beach. I didn't quite understand it, but Gray said the sea air help her soul re-settle after the trauma she'd experienced. It was dark out – the operation must have taken all day, but we were all so mentally involved that it felt like no time at all. Ann made a fire, and we set Elli down on the beach. Before long, she slowly regained consciousness.
"Where...?"
"You're on the beach, Elli. It's alright." I spoke softly.
"I couldn't move but... I saw it... You saved me, Pony..." a light blush rose to her cheeks, "thank you..." she still wasn't quite at her full strength, but she pulled herself up off of the sand. "I heard it, too... the Doctor..." Cliff's body tensed as she said it. "You want me to release him... from myself?"
"I... well... I know it's a lot to..." Cliff tripped over his words.
"Will it make you happy?"
"Y-yes..."
Elli smiled softly and stood up. "Doctor," she said kindly yet assertively. The Doctor seemed to fade in from thin air. "Yes, Elli?"
Elli glanced over at Cliff who was now bright red in the face, and back at the Doctor. She grinned kindly. "I set you free."
"Wh-what? Do you mean it?" the Doctor, not knowing anything of that day's events, was completely taken aback. I could see it in Elli's eyes – it hurt. Her familiar. Her companion... and now she was selflessly setting him free. His eyes told the story, too. It's not that the Doctor hated being with Elli... She'd taken care of him for so long. But just as a mother has to let her child go someday, the time had come for Elli to let the Doctor spread his wings. It made me feel warm inside, and a little sad.
"Yes...I free you from your bonds, so long as you promise to always be kind." She raised her hand. "You are now responsible for your own existence, so now you require your own name. I name you... Trent."
The newly named Dr. Trent was speechless; almost welling up from his happiness.
"This is as much as we can do," I whispered, "the rest is up to you, Cliff."
Gray snorted and smiled as if pitying us. "You guys are..." his attention was suddenly stolen away by something further down the beach, his eyes almost painfully sharp. We all turned to look; a lone silhouette stood in the darkness, and although I couldn't see its face, I knew it was watching us. I could feel it. Scared and concerned, everyone drew closer together, huddled around the fire silently, except for Gray. His eyes seemed to cut through the darkness like daggers.
The silhouette stepped forward.
Author's Note: So this chapter may have been a little bit of a filler, but I found it really fun to write, so hopefully it's as fun to read! By the way, I'm not sure if anyone's noticed, but Cliff turning into a horse is a reference to Harvest Moon 64 ;) as always, reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading! ~Nyannygiri