Chapter 29:
*BAM!*
"…The horror elements to do seem to stop"
"Are you actually not that good with horror movies?" I ask her.
"...I do have some level tolerance. But I often find myself hiding under the sheets" oh man, if I knew I would have had the time of my life teasing the poor fairy.
"How about you?" she redirects the question back to me.
"Me? Hmm. I'm not that bad at it. But never found myself hiding under the sheets" mostly because, at the back of my head, there are some things more horrifying than someone trying not to die.
I'm met with a hall. A long hall with torches attached to Tuscan pillars on each corner of the wall. The floor has tiles consisting of 2 shades of red, amaranth and cardinal, and 2 shades of green, pear and olive, in which all 4 of them alternates. The walls are accented with coffee color and peanut color. The design has 3 parts, the main wall has the coffee color as a background with a small peanut colored insignias. The surrounding it has an outer lining in tortilla color. A main hickory colored background with diamonds that have tortilla colored linings and is imbued with the same insignia. And lastly, the above and below of the main wall has a design that resembles teeth about to snap back in. With the teeth colored tawny and the gap between colored syrup.
In between these brown walls, separated by the Tuscan pillars is another design of green, particularly pine, with flat stone carvings hanging. At a distance, I can see that it alternates between a stained glass window with an array of colors and a red curtain.
"Hmmm a hallway huh…"
"Normally, it would a hall with grand staircase" Histy commented.
"I guess they wanted this castle to be the answer to claustrophobia or something"
I walk its halls. My steps echo and reflect off of the wall. The only visible light here are the torches that give quite the luminance and from the windows. The wind is strong outside, tapping the windows. Cobwebs are on the corners of the wall and ceiling, and dust floats around. And even with the luminance, and my eyes have adjusted to it already, it is still very dark.
But something is here. I know it. An eerie feeling of dread beckoning me to come closer. It's familiar. Something that reminds me of that 'pile' that I made for 'him'. Its odor makes my old blood boil and flood through my veins. Is this…?
"Histoire…" I call out to her without looking.
"Yes?" she answers without looking. Nervousness can be heard through her voice.
"There aren't any monsters here" I said my observation.
"Well… I think they've been scared off… (⌒◇⌒;)"
"And I was hoping for a decent meal too…" thank you scary entity.
"I as well too…(っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ"
"You got my hopes up you know" I continue.
"…Uuuuh…"
"Now my stomach is as empty as the dark void center of a black hole"
"I'm sorry…?"
"Take responsibility for my starving stomach!" I shout dramatically.
"Yes. I will conjure you food in 3 hours" with a seriousness that could rival the seriousness of a child finding money, she holds up her two hands and closed her eyes. Probably making something pop from thin air.
"I'm just messing with you. Don't worry about my starving stomach"
"But the way you said it…" I think I made her feel guilty.
"It's a part of being messed around with. What? Have you not been teased?"
"…I have *Sigh*… Don't you know that girls are delicate creatures?" her tone now resounds to a mother telling her child.
"I thought you're a fairy?"
"This and that are different! In any case, I don't think doing that as a joke is a very nice thing to do, young man" she's actually admonishing me.
"I'm sorry ma'am. I'll never do that ever again until the universe collapses into a giant black hole returning us into nothingness" I apologize almost immediately.
"Please do" what a stern companion I have.
"Pfft…!" and now she's laughing at me.
"Ahahahahahaha! (*^▽^*)"
"And now you're laughing at me?"
"Ahahahahaha! Forgive me… but it's that… hahahahaha" take it back! Give me back the apology I gave 5 dialogues ago!
"It's that… I haven't scold like that in a long time...Ahahahahahahaha"
"So who was the last person you've sternly scold?" I resume our exploration of the castle as we walk and talk. Somehow the mood earlier lifted.
"Do you know the former CPU of Planeptune?" she asked.
"Purple Heart correct?" I feign ignorance.
"Yes. Her name is Neptune"
"Oooh. Has a nice ring to it" a very nice ring to it.
"She was always a problem child ever since she became CPU. All she ever did as she was ruling her country was play all day"
"I can imagine" she could play games until the electricity is through the roof. Gawd the amount of money I have to spend is terrifying.
"She'll laze around all day with nothing but her comics and her favorite sweet to accompany her"
"She must be quite the glutton" I commented. She does have a black hole as a stomach.
"Her laziness is very empowering that, at the time, Planeptune's are the lowest of the four nations. It's even a wonder how she's still able to move"
"Energy-saving mode" it's a literal term that you should come to expect from her.
"Sometimes she would pretend to go on a quest because I've scolded her for 3 hours straight"
"Such endurance" I'm surprised by how she was able to sit through that. It's basically a form of psychological trauma.
"*Sigh*… Even just remembering her gives me headaches…" she massages her temples. Me too, she's way too much of a headache to handle, in a good way of course.
"But still…"
"…?"
"Even when Neptune is all that. That girl never fails to make me proud of her…" she smiles as she looks far away nostalgically.
"She has sometimes excellent charisma that I find dazzling. She has a greater sense of danger even though she's a klutz of a girl. She stands up to the occasion given the urgency. And she always, always never lets someone down when they need her the most. Even me…"
"Yeah…" that girl can be quite the cluster fuck. But she's a good girl. An exceptional, pure-hearted girl.
"As her Oracle, no, as her only parent, I'm proud of that little-spoiled princess" tears started to flow from the corners of her eyes.
"Hey now… sorry for making you remember…" I stop and pet the fairy's head.
"Hm hmm…" she shakes her head.
"…I just realized something very important that I failed to say to her" she smiles in a mourning manner.
"That's true..." I pet her head still. Comforting her little and little.
It's sad really. That we realize simple things that when we actually couldn't when something important leaves us. It's a sickness that every person has, and sometimes it hits me too. But if we can still realize those simple things, even when it's far too late to bring back what we lost now. It would help us to realize things faster when new things come into our lives. Maybe, sometimes, some things are better left leaving us than chasing it. Whether it may be dreams, aspirations, or a significant other.
"I'm okay. Thank you" she said shaking my hand off of her head.
"Really? I'm starting to like petting your head though" gives me a very tingly feeling inside.
"Really. Thank you. You've done more than enough"
"If you think so then it's good to hear" I said as I turn a corner.
The hall is dark, but with the multitudes of light that is as though guiding me through this place, I'm met with stairs that leads below. We haven't seen stairs other than this one, so it probably leads to a basement of sorts. The multiple lights light source stops at the base of the stairs. Making it look like it's a bottomless pit.
"…!" the smell is stronger here. My instincts send alarms at me. There's something down there.
"…"
Translation: Your sister is waiting for you
"…!" I look behind me as per my instincts instructions. And I sa-!
"-!"
"…"
Translation: Hehehehe…
*CLASH!*
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