Chapter 21: Reassurance

As Roberto played the "sacred" flute, the world seemed to vanish around him. He played a song he had never heard or thought of before. The notes just came to him as he played; one after another. He wasn't used to liking his own music, but he liked this one.

After a while he stopped and the notes left his mind completely. The song wasn't over, but he wasn't really in the mood for playing right now. A quiet wind disturbed the leaves as he looked up.

Roberto took this time to finally let everything that was happening sink in. An uncountable amount of questions suddenly entered his head. Where was he? Why was he here? How would he get back? Would he ever get back? Why did he have to be this "Messiah"?

"What are you doing?" The voice broke Roberto from his thoughts and he looked over in surprised. It was Laura. He had almost forgotten she'd come here with him. He wondered how he should reply.

Roberto wasn't in the mood for arguing, though Laura looked ready to snap back if he did. He looked up. "Nothing… just looking at the moon," he answered. He wondered how long she had been there and if she heard him playing.

"Oh… It is pretty tonight." Apparently not. There was another pause as the two just stared at the moon. "Hey, Jiei-kun, this is all a dream, right?" Laura suddenly asked.

"I don't think so," Roberto replied. Laura seemed surprised. "What do you mean? It has to be a dream. I mean, look at us! We're not even human anymore."

"I know it sounds crazy, but I've convinced myself that we're not dreaming. It's impossible to know you're dreaming while dreaming." Laura had question written on her face and Roberto went on. "When dreaming, you're mind is too busy making up everything that's happening to bother thinking if it makes sense or not. Of course, when you wake up you'll think how bogus your dream might have been. But while dreaming, you'll never find yourself thinking, 'this makes no sense, I must be dreaming.' Besides, have you ever dreamt anything so clear before? I mean, I've never had a dream where a whole day went by. When I could count the minutes. When things went step by step instead of skipping around."

"Yeah, but…" Laura still looked unsure. "And, it might not by proof to you, but everyone always says you can't get hurt in a dream," Roberto said. He was referring the cut on his wrist, which still showed.

"But, then how will we get back? What if we never get back?" Roberto was suddenly hearing his own questions in someone else's voice. He was surprised to see Laura's eyes a bit watery, too. "What if… we're stuck here forever? As hamsters… If we can never go home…" She couldn't go on anymore as she buried her face in her paws.

"Hey, calm down." Roberto quickly got up and walked over to Laura, putting his paws on her shoulders comfortingly. "C'mon, we'll be fine. We'll definitely go home again soon. I don't know how, but he will… Those hamsters told me that the last Messiah left, too. Maybe he was in the same situation as us. I'll just play the Praise tomorrow and we'll go home," he assured.

Laura stared at the ground. "Are you sure?" Roberto wasn't about to lie to her. "No. But I have hope," and, with a teasing grin, he added, "and I'm not about to go off crying like a lost child."

"I'm not crying!" Laura yelled defiantly. "Right, so there's dirt in your eyes?" Roberto asked.

"Yeah."

"That's the oldest one in the book."

There was a sudden silence. The mood between them was finally how it should be, or, at least, how they were used to it being. Now that Roberto had the old Laura back, he didn't feel so lonely. They were in this together.

"Why do you have to play this stupid 'Praise' thing, anyway," Laura asked, regaining herself and wiping away the last of her tears. "I don't know… I gotta rid this place of some evil spirits, or something," Roberto replied casually, shrugging. "That's outrageous," she muttered. "That's what I thought. But these hamsters are just convinced that I'm the one to do it…"

Another pause went by. "So, now that you aren't being paid,"-- the beginning of Laura's sentence was certainly true, these hamsters didn't plan on paying Roberto back in any way-- "wanna finish that poem you were singing before?"

"I wasn't singing," Roberto repeated, crossing his arms. Laura stared at him expectantly. Roberto sighed in defeated. "Fine…

"When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

"There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: so I said,
'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'

"And so he was quiet; and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

"And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

"Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

"And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm..."

"That's kind of sad," Laura comment when he finished. "It's supposed to be," Roberto replied simply. "I heard it a few years ago."

"You'll wind up getting your hair spoiled, too," Laura teased. "You think I wore that hat for style? Besides, I probably won't do it again. Unlicensed chimney sweeps don't get paid nearly enough," Roberto replied.

The two had seated themselves by a leaf as Roberto had been telling the rest of the poem. "That's good. It's dangerous, you know?" Laura said. "If you don't know what you're doing. A lot of little kids had to learn how to sweep chimneys during the 19th century," he replied.

"And no thanks to you, I had to risk hurting my feet jumping off that roof to get the ladder. You've not been much help for me lately, you know," Roberto grunted. "Well sorry I'm not a book of instructions. You keep pissing me off and I'll make you regret it," Laura defended. "Oh, how scary," Roberto mocked, smiling.

He felt strange. Roberto had never talked to Laura this long, especially not when no one else was around. He didn't think it was possible for him to feel this comfortable around her. "Hey, when do you think those evil spirits come out?" Laura asked. "Why? You scared?" Roberto smiled, raising an eyebrow. "No! I was just wondering," she answered quickly.

Actually, that was a good question, Roberto thought. The three young hamsters had told him they come out every night. He wondered if they were even real. Maybe they mistook a bird for an evil spirit.

"I'm sure it's nothing much… I mean, these are hamsters we're talking about." Laura nodded slowly. Roberto then stood up, stretching a bit. "Well, I don't know how late it is, but I'm guessing now would be a nice time for sleep," he yawned. "I wonder if the festival is still going on," Laura wondered, getting up, as well.

"I hope it is… or else they'll notice I left," Roberto replied, putting a paw to his chin and looking up. "Then let's hurry!" Laura said loudly, smiling, as she ran past Roberto and grabbed his paw. "Whoa!" Roberto yelped as she pulled him with her.

The two never noticed dark figures making their way above them in the trees.

The Chimney Sweeper (c) William Blake That uploading chapters later thing…? Oh yeah, I lied… Well, sort of. There will we delays every now and then, but I'll mostly upload every other day. The only reason I upload so fast is because there are still a lot of chapters to go. But I promise after this thing in Agata Forest is over things will start to speed up. That said, look forward to Chapter 22: Evil Spirits Attack!