Sorry for the wait. Merry whatever you guys celebrate, Happy New Year and enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 6
A Time Once Forgotten
The ground felt soft under Chow's feet as he strolled across the dream quad without his boots to support him.
He'd permanently added this location to his dreamscape after his freshman year mainly because it was a nice place to think; and there was a lot to think about at the moment.
The wind blew through the empty space on Chow's torso as he sat with his back to an oak tree. He didn't bother dreaming his left arm back on. He was too deep in thought to consider it.
Not only was he not strong enough to protect his territory, he'd been humiliated in front of his friends.
"You know I used to pick a place similar to this one when I needed to think." Sheila chuckled as she took a seat next to her son. Sadly, this was the last person Chow wanted to see right now. "How's the arm?"
"Hello, Sheila."
"I'm your mo-" She tried to correct him.
"No. My mom wouldn't have fucking lied to me about who I am." He growled in anger, cutting her off. He caught the flat palm that was aimed at his face with his remaining arm. "Until you explain yourself, I'll apologize for nothing that I say."
She withdrew her hand and nodded. He deserved an explanation. "I'm a curse doll."
"I figured that part out. So does that make me...?"
"You're only half curse doll. It's in your blood, well, the little you do have." Sheila elaborated.
"Why didn't you just tell me earlier?"
"There never was a good time to-"
"During training when you taught me how to use my healing factor would've been fine." Chow cut her off.
"That's actually a natural skill, you know, being curse dolls and all."
"There's another lie exposed. What about my sight? Is that a curse too?" Chow sighed in anguish.
"No. That's a gift from your grandfather. He was a human."
Chow froze. He was related to a human? "What do you mean my grandfather was a human?"
"I was created by a man named Balkan Devower. At one point, he thought of me as just a guardian and companion for your aunt. Patricia was a beautiful little girl. You'd have liked her. He did treat me with reverence though seeing as I was still a living thing. But then..."
November 26th, 1986
A 34 year old man with pale skin sat at his dining room table holding a newspaper and drinking from a stone tea cup. The cup was floating in front of his face as he quietly sipped from it. The sun crept through the window highlighting his dark purple cloak, black slacks and white button down shirt.
Suddenly, a 9 year old girl with fair skin and freckles peppered across her face wearing a pink sun dress rushed up to him followed by a brown stuffed bear about her height in skinny jeans and a tank top.
"Daddy daddy daddy! Look what me and Sheila made together! It's a scrapbook!" She giggled as she placed the object in her father's lap.
He picked up the glitter covered book and flipped it open. Only one picture was in it and it was of him and her mother.
"It's wonderful, sweetheart. Thank you."
"I helped her with the scissors so she wouldn't hurt herself."
"Thank you, Sheila. I appreciate that." He commended the guardian.
"I'm hungry. Got anything to eat?"
"Well, Patty, there are some apples on the table. You can eat one before lunch."
Patricia grabbed an apple and sunk her teeth into it. Suddenly, she fell to her knees clutching her stomach.
"Daddy... I don't feel so good."
"Patty!"
"Patty!? Patty, what's wrong!?" Her father was instantly alarmed. This had never happened before.
"Daddy... it hurts, daddy. Make it stop…" Sheila held the girl as she groaned in pain. Foam bubbled up from her throat as he spazzed in the bear's arms.
"Daddy... I see a bright light. Should I touch it?"
"Patty, stay away from the light!" Balkan dashed over to the bowl and quickly scanned it with his eyes.
"The juices from all these apples are highly toxic. One bite could kill a small rhino... who picked these?"
"Balkan, sir, her body is shutting down! Please! Help her!" Sheila gasped.
He rushed over to his daughter and pulled her into his arms. His eyes flashed, and then dulled to a dingy gray.
"This poison is highly volatile. At this stage... I can't stop it. Even with my magic, it's useless to try."
"Why is that!?"
"It'll only cause her more pain if I keep her alive. The toxins will never leave her body, that I could promise you. It's clung to her DNA. They'll constantly tear her insides apart just for my magic to heal it and the cycle would continue. The existence that it would offer her I wish on not even my worst enemy." Balkan's gaze drifted back to his daughter.
"Daddy... I'm tired." Patty whined, her eyes slowly closing.
"Baby... does the light feel good?"
"Yeah, daddy. It's like a pillow."
"Move towards the light, honey. It's ok now."
"I love you, daddy. Sheila... you can have my dolls." The girl coughed out a bit of blood, then feel still.
Her father closed her eyelids and carried her up to her bed.
The two magical beings sat at the edge of her bed and just stared at what used to be Patricia Devower.
"She's gone..." Sheila gripped her arm as a few tears dropped from her eyes. "I couldn't protect her..."
"Sheila. It's not your fault." Balkan pulled the former guardian to his lap. "I am to be held just as responsible as you are."
"But she was my sister- I mean charge."
"No, she was your sister. And now you are my only living daughter." Balkan tapped the girl on the nose.
"I'm... your daughter?"
"Yes you are. Do you not want to be?" Sheila tried to hold back her tears.
"D-daddy..." She cried and gripped his shirt in a hug.
They sat there for an unknown amount of time. Not that either was in the mood to move.
1 week after Patricia was buried, Balkan and Sheila stood at their closet door with two suitcases. The rest of the house was left barren, as if no one lived there.
"We'll have to lay low for a while. Whoever put those apples on the table probably intended to kill me. We can go live with my family friend, the Buffets."
"That's a weird name."
"It's not a human name, honey. And where we're going, we would both stick out way too much."
"Stick out? What do you mean?" The curse doll was genuinely confused.
"Here. Let me show you." Balkan pulled out a jar of green powder and sprinkled it on his furry daughter. Her fur sparked, and then turned green.
"Hmm... I could grow to like this. But why green?"
"You'll see." Balkan smiled and opened the door. "After you." The girl walked through the passage, but instead of being met with the back of a closet, she was met with a room full of green bears; the thing that caught her off guard was their long spiked tails.
She ducked a punch from a kid next to her and flipped him onto the ground, holding him down with one arm.
The kid, now identified as a male cub no older than 11 in a black suit, struggled against her grip.
"Who let you through the door station!? My dad told me it's off limits!" He coughed out.
"I can answer that question." Balkan walked through the door holding his cane in one hand and an open book in the other. He was covered head to toe in green fur and looked like a male version of Sheila. His outfit still fit snugly on his thin frame.
"Dad? You look weird."
"What do you mean? I always look like this." He replied matter-of-factly. "You must be Scarf. I'm Balkan. I know your dad, George. He's an old friend of mine."
Sheila let the kid go and stood by her father. The rest of the room, caught up in the excitement that broke their routine, went back to their jobs.
"Is that Balkan? I thought I heard a thud." A monster wearing a grey suit and black fedora stepped into the room. Scarf dashed out of the room, flustered.
"You look well. And this must be Sheila."
"Yes, sir. Pleased to meet you."
"Can we stay here for a while? I I'm being hunted again." Balkan asked the bear monster.
"Oh, come off it. My house is your house. You are the reason my empire is number one in the city."
"I just used a few low level spells on your house. No big deal." Balkan blushed. He wasn't use to such praise.
"What do you do, Mr. George, sir?"
"You can call me Uncle George, Sheila, and you could say I'm in the protection business." He answered semi-truthfully.
Out of nowhere, Scarf leapt from the ceiling directly at Sheila holding a rubber bat.
She pulled a pair of headphones from her open bag, slipped them on and deflected Scarf's assault with an open palm.
"If this is what you want, this is what you'll get."
"I won't be defeated again." Scarf dropped the bat and kicked it to the side.
"Let the record play." The female guardian pressed play on her cd player and a high energy song began to play.
(Sleeping with Sirens- Tally it Up, Settle the Score((So what if the tech and the song aren't from their time period. Don't judge me!)))
The two grownups stood on the sidelines and watched their kids exchange blows. Both adolescents could defend themselves and neither parent expected anything bad to come of this.
After a few minutes of sparring, both Scarf and Sheila looked tired. They broke apart to assess the damage. They each had bruises and bumps scattered across their bodies.
Scarf was sporting a busted lip from a well placed roundhouse kick from his opponent while Sheila's eye was slowly oozing stuffing. "You're bleeding weird." Scarf commented.
Almost as soon as it started, her eye went back to normal. "Now I'm not bleeding at all."
"The fuck?"
"She's a curse doll, isn't she, Balkan?" George asked the human in disguise.
"Well, of course. Her battle skill and healing factor could have told you that."
"She's not better than me!" Scarf boasted as he dashed in again. "We're evenly matched."
"She's holding back." Balkan and George both replied in unison.
Sheila swept his feet and juggled the boy in the air with swift, accurate kicks. After about 20 consecutive kicks, she let him down and crossed her arms.
"I thought I could get away with a tie, but you pushed me."
Scarf slowly got to his feet. He felt like a soccer ball. Never in a million years did he think he could lose to this girl.
"I'm... I'm sorry. I should've let it go."
George was surprised. His son had never admitted defeat: ever.
Sheila held out her hand and smirked. "Take me out for ice cream and we'll call it even."
"You mean ice scream." He corrected her.
"Potato tomato. Are we going or what?" She flicked her headphones into her bag and pulled him up.
"Uh... yeah." He blushed furiously. "There's a shop right down the street."
They walked out the room, hand in hand, while their parents stood there smirking.
"100 bucks says they start dating."
"200 says they get married." George challenged his old friend.
"I'll take a piece of that action." Balkan replied as he levitated the bags.
"I'll show you to your room."
"So you met my dad after your sister died from a poisoned apple?" Chow summed up the events that transpired. "That still doesn't explain how I got my sight."
"When you were born, since you were part monster, your grandfather gave his sight to you. He's blind in one eye now."
"How old is he?" Chow's anger sort of faded after hearing the story. The fierce emotion replaced with curiosity.
"He turns 70 on Halloween."
"Heh. Fitting. Why haven't I met him?"
"After you were born, he went back to guarding the door station under the mansion." Sheila brushed her fingers over Chow's open wound. "They're patching you up as we speak. You should be good as new when you wake up."
Silence overtook the duo.
Chow felt like absolute shit. He just couldn't do anything right. Now he'd almost hurt one of the only people he loved unconditionally and could trust with anything.
"Mom... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"When did you do that?" Sheila smiled.
"Right..."
"If you ever were to yell at me, I'd rip off your limes and put them in a glass jar."
Chow rolled his eyes. "That's my mom."
"You should get some rest. Johnny wiped everyone's mind for you, but you're gonna have to explain why you're not dead, though."
"To who?" Chow didn't know who he'd have to talk to and at this point didn't care.
"Your new frat brothers. When you inducted them, they became immune to mental attacks just like the rest of your frat."
"Can't I just mind wipe them too?"
"You told the rest of your frat. Why should these three be different?" Chow collapsed on the tree trunk and closed his eyes.
"Fine, but you're baking me an apple core pie..."
"With rotten cinnamon?" She added.
"Oh my gawhd, I missed you." The bear grinned and hugged his mom. "I mean what's the worst that could happen?"
Since it took so long for me to put this out, I might as well do this now.
I need some ocs for future chapters and I'm too lazy to come up with some. Send your OCs in a pm or review if you want.
No Rush.
Next Chapter Soon!
