"Thanks for ordering," Jack laughed as a waitress left, "I can hardly understand what any of these dishes are."
"Then it's a good thing I fished these out from my bag when you guys were cleaning up," Caitlin laughed as she pulled out what looked odd looking grey capsules.
"What are those?"
"They're translators I built some time ago. I grabbed enough for everyone to take. I planned on getting them out sooner, but as you know, things came up… And well, better late than never, right?" she chuckled nervously as she passed them around.
"That's so cool…but all of us except Jack know all the languages on Earth," Tooth stated with the other chuckling nervously.
"That maybe so, but we'll be at some point be travel to other planets with entirely different languages or broken pieces of what's spoken on Earth. With the exception of Sandy and possibly Bunny, I doubt the rest of you can speak otherworldly languages."
"Got a point there," the fairy laughed nervously.
"Smart, be easier than forcing you or others translate if we are asked something. It would save time," North chuckled.
"That's what I was thinking too," the redhead replied with a smile.
"So how do they work?" Pitch asked. He busied himself holding one of the capsules close to his face, finding it was about the size of a pill, even looking like one.
"For starters, you take them like ordinary pills. Inside each one are basically nanobots a friend of mine and I designed. But instead of running on electricity, they run off of our spirit."
"That's quite ingenious."
"Hai, of course, while they can help translate languages from seeing it, hearing it, even speaking it, it doesn't work on all. Particularly one language, that being my people's language."
"How come?"
"For starters, its rather sacred, Yukona anto Rengozia, known as the Language of Beginning, it's as it's translated."
"The first language to exist?"
"The first in all of existence from what I and others have learned."
"I can understand why you'd consider it so sacred."
"That and it's extremely difficult and for the most part, a dead language. Very few still speak it such myself and my family as well as close friends who were able to learn."
"And being the first language, and with current languages, it may cause a mix up in translation more than what we may have now?"
"Exactly."
"So aside that, anything else it does? Like how long they last?"
"They seem to last roughly three hundred years before needing to change. It depends on how bad of a beating you take to the head, so they could last longer. So if at any point you start having trouble reading a language you were unfamiliar with already, let me know. Okay?"
"Sounds feasible enough considering everything we've been learning up to this point so far," the dark clad man replied as he continued examining it.
"I hope you guys aren't worried about those things."
"Despite that little scare tactic you pulled on the ship, we trust ya not to be screwing with us," Bunny stated as he popped the pill in, taking a good drink out of his glass, making a slight face afterwards. "They don't have taste."
"I'd rather not have someone spit in my face if they tasted like crap."
"Point taken."
Soon the others swallowed the pills, including one given to Baby Tooth, the small group sitting around, most unsure of it working.
Immediately they began looking towards Jack, curious to see how he would react, knowing that he was the only one with the minimal knowledge in understanding most languages.
While he did travel the planet to spread winter fun, it didn't mean he stuck around long enough to learn a new language.
If he did learn anything, it would've only had been bits and pieces of certain words that caught his attention.
Taking the menu into his hands again, the teen began reading the food listed, or more what they are than names alone.
It took a moment before he felt his vision fade in and out before clearing up once more.
Shaking his head, he stared once more at the menu, almost thinking at first he must've still been tired before…
"I…I actually understand what's written here!" he gasped, dropping the menu in shock, a huge smile growing on his face. "It worked! You're a genius, Caitlin!"
"There are dozens others who are far more intelligent than I am," the redhead laughed when the teen hugged her.
"You shouldn't be so modest, it isn't just your intelligence alone that makes you a genius," Pitch chuckled heartily.
"Maybe so."
Still chuckling, he began to take a sip of tea he had ordered, enjoying the taste before dropping it, the glass shattering when it rolled off the table.
"Pitch?"
"What's going on?"
The normally ashen skin turned a deathly pale, silver and gold eyes wide with absolute fear, almost appearing to be in a trance, but wasn't.
Immediately, he wrapped his arms around himself, trembling heavily, his breathing coming out harshly.
Caitlin was at his side in an instant, Jack having let go, but followed, concern showing over his fellow spirit.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking between the two with worried eyes, the others sharing the same look.
"The spirit was here," she growled, eyes darting from one spot to the next.
"I felt it…its filled with so much hatred and fear… I can't even begin to describe it," the nightmare king stuttered, trying to ease his breathing, only making it worse. "It felt like someone shoved a freezing hand straight into my spine."
"Calm down, it's gone for now," she comforted, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you talking about the spirit that lives here?" the waitress who took their orders asked, having just arrived with a lunch cart set up with all their orders. "It's best not to bother him. You leave him be and he'll leave you alone."
"Then what about all of the mysterious deaths?" Tooth asked, seeing the other was still trying to calm their friend down.
"It's mostly stray animals or any other vermin that comes in here. If you're so worried about one of you dying then I suggest keeping an eye on yourself and the rabbit since you don't look human."
"How kind of you," Jack muttered in a huff as their dishes were set about the table, shooting glares at her.
"Just saying," the waitress stated as she set the final dish down, though it was on the floor, one they didn't order.
"Hey! We're not paying for that!" Bunny snapped angrily as the woman turned and left without another word.
"I think that's left for the spirit," North spoke up, trying to calm the other down from going into an angry fit.
"If the bloody thing can eat, then it can't be a ghost or haunting spirit…"
"It is, Bunny. But you might be onto something. The fact that food is left, almost like an offering, it shows just how strong the spirit is, needing to consume food to keep its energy up. That means that all of the killings that have happened, they've been done solely for food, not out of spite. But the fact that others than animals alone are killed shows how unstable this spirit must be," the redhead explained as she thought about it while returning to her seat.
"So how are we gonna lure it out?" the rabbit asked, a brow raised as he wondered what her plan might be.
"Right now, I'm not entirely sure. Our best bet would be to figure out what its daily routine is. Once we do, we can start some basic plans on how to at least corner it. As for fighting, that's a whole different…" the redhead began explaining before a loud booming noise was heard outside. "Shit!"
"The hell was that?" he cursed as the room rattled, framed pictures and mirrors hanging crashing down, glass scattering about.
Their table shook violently, dishware and glasses trembling, threatening to spill and drop everything to the ground.
Even with North and the others holding the table still had little effect; their bodies were far to shaken up over the noise.
"Jack! Come back here!" Tooth shrieked when the teen rushed out, gliding high enough to avoid the broken shards.
Immediately she followed with Baby Tooth right at her side, worry etched into their features over their friend.
The others followed, Sandy thankfully quickly using his sand to push the shards aside.
He even made it where it acted as a thick enough blanket of his sand for Bunny to tread across without worry.
When reaching outside, they stared in horror as militia was rolling through, loud speakers on them, echoing a message.
Other people had stepped out of shops and homes, peeking from windows, curious of what was going on as well as fearing it.
Any who were in the streets got out of the way, some even abandoning what they had in their hands that slowed them down as the vehicles didn't.
"Attention! We will be going door to door in search of inhuman beings starting today. If you are caught harboring any, we will arrest you. Resist and we will shoot," the message repeated, sending chills down everyone's spines.
"Bunny, go back inside, take Tooth with you, now!" Caitlin barked, the other doing so, grabbing her and the tiny fairy before any could spot them.
"We have little time here, don't we?" North asked, his voice laced with anger, clenching and unclenching his hands, trying to keep his rage from erupting.
"Until the streets are clear and safe, we have to stay indoors," she sighed angrily, fists held tightly, not even loosening up when feeling a tiny hand grasped her wrist.
"How do we know the hotel manager won't blab us out?" Jack questioned, looking to the others for an answer, his brows furrowed.
"He'll be arrested for harboring us regardless. He's just as fucked as we are," Pitch growled in disgust, sharp teeth showing.
"Let's get back inside before they get ideas to question or arrest us," the redhead spoke, taking Sandy's hand when finally realizing his presence.
She quickly guided him and the others back indoors just as the seventh tank rolled in with several trucks and empty buses following in hot pursuit.
"We can't just let them do this!" Jack shouted once indoors, unable to hold his anger back any more. "We just can't!"
To emphasize his point, he slammed his staff down, unintentionally creating a small patch of ice.
"Control yourself, losing it right now won't help anyone," the redhead scolded, showing she was just as angry, but managed to keep her cool, barely. "I'm going to try calling someone to get to this world and work on collecting those who are being hunted down like animals. No one deserves being treated like this."
"How are we going to get out of here though?" Tooth asked as she followed the redhead, her voice cracking.
"If we can find a private enough place either outside or here, I'll try to open a Dimensional Tear. But I can't guarantee anything if we have to do it here with the spirit running around. It could disrupt the tear or worse, follow us and end up bringing it with us. If that happens, we could end up starting something similar to the plague onto an unsuspecting world."
"So it's either risk getting killed outside or we find the spirit and stop it before it could try killing us or more people?"
"That pretty much sums it up sadly."
Looking behind her, seeing the fairy looking depressed, the redhead stopped, turning around to pull her close into a hug.
"I know it seems bad, but I won't anyone or anything hurt you or the others."
"I know…I guess I'm just really scared."
"I know, everyone here is."
"Are you?"
"Only for all of your safety."
"Do you ever express fear for yourself?"
"I did a few times when I was very young back on Cateria, and a bunch of times during the years I had been reincarnated, before my memories came back."
"What about now? Is there anything you're scared about right now?" Tooth asked almost begging the other, wanting to know, not fully understanding why.
She could only guess it was her own fear eating away at her, wanting some form of comfort knowing the other really understood her fear.
She nearly jumped when the other froze in her steps, her shoulders.
"That any self-sacrifice I end up doing ends up being in vain," she answered in a hollow tone, the slightest trembling being seen before she starts moving, disguising it with her steps.
Unsure about following, the fairy decided to make her way back to the others, a few tears forming in her eyes.
After several minutes passed, Caitlin returned, finding everyone together save for Tooth, her brow raised with curiosity.
"Where's Tooth?" she asked a she rejoined them, finding they were picking away at their meal, some eaten, but appetite for the most part lost.
"She followed you, right?" North questioned.
"Hai, but she didn't follow me into the room, even saw her on my way in going the other…" the redhead began before eyes widened in realization. "Oh gods."
Spotting the waitress from before, Bunny was at her, grabbing her by the collar of her blouse, the others trying to pull them apart.
"Where is she? Where's Tooth?" he snarled, eyes livid with rage.
"She must've attracted the spirit to claim her as his next prey! I don't know, she could've also gone outside and been captured!" the waitress cried out, struggling to break free.
"Bunny, let her go!" Jack cried out before a gold ball of dust smacked the rabbit in the back of the head, knocking him out. "Nice shot, Sandy."
"Where does the spirit go most?" Caitlin asked as North held the unconscious rabbit's shoulders, Pitch supporting his legs.
"The third floor, the one that's closed off from public. There's a ladder that'll take you there, but it's heavily locked to keep people out."
"We'll see about that," she growled before turning to the others. "Jack, Pitch, I'm going to need you two for this."
"What about Bunny? And us?" North asked with wide eyes.
"We can't wait for him to come too. Just take him back up to the bedroom and guard him, I want at least one of you at his side nonstop. Don't care if you trade shifts if leaving to get something to eat or use the toilet. I don't want to risk more getting kidnapped. But if you see anything, anything at all, I want Baby Tooth or Sandy sent up to us immediately."
Caitlin soon fished through her pockets, pulling out what looked like paper talismans or charms, the language hard to read with how they were crumpled.
She folded one up into a thin, ribbon like square, tying it gently around the tiny fairy's torso, making it look like a belt on her. She did the same thing with the other one, tying it around Sandy's wrist instead.
"What are those?" Jack asked before seeing a couple more pulled out, the same thing done for Pitch and himself.
"Protection, though Sandy's and Baby Tooth's are different from ours. They'll more or less make them invisible to a malevolent spirit's senses as well as protect them from any miasma that's present."
"Miasma?"
"It's a poisonous gas; it's capable of tainting and dissolving a soul into nothing or twists it into an evil entity. It can range between being numbing to the body or leaving one going through an excruciating amount of pain. It really all depends on who the individual is."
"So if ours are different, what do they do?"
"Ours protects us from the miasma as well, but won't make us invisible sadly."
"Makes sense," the teen muttered as he glanced at his wrist worriedly. "Dammit, why didn't Tooth stay with you? Why didn't we sense something was wrong?"
"Blame me, not yourself or Tooth. I might've snapped at her when she had been asking me some questions."
"What kind?"
"What I'm afraid of personally. She was scared herself and I think she wanted some solace or something along those lines. I might've made it worse for her with my tone or the way I worded things."
The others remained quiet, understanding she was feeling guilty, making her more determined to save their friend.
Instead of focusing on that, not wanting to be distracted right now, they focused on getting Bunny up the stairs to their shared rooms.
As he was settled, Caitlin had gone into her room, grabbing her sword and what looked like more charms and talismans.
She slapped an extra few on the doorframe, specifying it was to add extra protection to the others while waiting.
"Please be safe," North muttered as he sat on the spare bed, sinking his head into his hands with a heavy sigh.
Feeling a small pat on his arm, he looked down with a bitter smile towards Sandy's, seeing his forced smile.
"I trust Caitlin to keep Pitch and Jack safe, to bring Tooth back to us safely. I only worry we won't be strong enough if spirit comes here."
A few symbols appeared above Sandy's head, the larger man giving a laugh as he patted him on the head, grateful for his consoling words.
Although he disagreed that they wouldn't be strong enough, making the other curious of what he meant.
The golden man explained they would be and once Bunny woke up, aside being pissed, will be raring to fight if they get attacked.
Seeing that kind of hope and ambition in the tiny male made the other laugh, feeling reassured in his own strength.
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