IT.
IS.
TIME.
ARE.
YOU.
FUCKING.
READY.
Chapter 50: Blockington Disguise
"So… guess I'm seventeen then."
Those were the first words to come out of my mouth at breakfast the following morning. It was… an odd feeling, to be sure. Then again, pretty sure that just comes with the territory.
The others got a good kick out of that, judging from the laughs. Susie scooted her chair to be closer to me, her expression all smiles.
"You know…" Susie whispered. "It's almost my birthday too. Did I ever tell you that?"
"Eh?" I asked, in my own whisper. "When?"
"Next Monday. The tenth." Susie whispered, blushing. "I… guess I never told you because it just… didn't seem important."
"That's crazy talk." I responded. "Your birthday is just as important as mine. We should celebrate yours too, once the time comes."
"I'm not saying that wouldn't be, well, very sweet of you… but doesn't that somewhat conflict with your… weekend plans?" Susie asked.
I was confused for a moment, before I realized: my sister had invited me over for the weekend, to celebrate my birthday a bit late at her place.
"We can make it work, promise." I reassured, before turning back towards breakfast.
Susie gave me a curious look, but said nothing otherwise. Breakfast was finished shortly after.
Once everything was clean again, I called a house meeting.
"Okay, so, I know this is kinda sudden… but do you guys remember End? Well, in that letter he gave me, it was from my sister: she wants me and a few others to come visit her so that we can have a belated celebration over at Blockington." I announced.
Talking INSTANTLY started sprouting. Diana and Silk immediately started discussing the city and the dangers of going there (it was sometimes easy to forget that we basically pulled off a heist of that city. Sure, we ultimately grabbed the wrong thing, but still), Snowy was up off her seat already BEGGING me to take her along, and Andr was bobbing up and down a bit, saying that she wouldn't mind having more cake for the second time this week.
However, I noticed that, among the talking… Susie had drawn rather quiet.
I stared at her for a moment, saying, "Erm… Susie?"
Susie glanced up at me. "O-oh, ah… yes?"
"Is everything… alright?" I asked gently.
The others slowly grew quiet to focus on Susie. Susie glanced at the people on either side of her before blushing a bit.
"I… It's just… I kinda…" Susie stammered, struggling to find the proper words.
Snowy took ahold of Susie's arm, staring up into the slime lady's eyes. "Mistress… do you want to go with Master?"
Susie's blush grew far more profound. She didn't even need to say anything: everyone could already tell what her answer was.
Andr tapped her fingers together. "Not saying that it's a bad idea… but I'm not sure how you would plan to smuggle Susie into that place. I mean, the cloak thing works for Puppy and Silk, and I'm sure there's things that could be done for me and Diana, but…"
Everyone let that sink in. I mean, she wasn't wrong. Susie's vividly green colored… er, everything, would be visible even under some kind of cloak, and any other method of clothing disguise seemed like it would probably fail pretty quickly…
And then, suddenly, I remembered something. I snapped my fingers and told everyone to wait there while I checked the storage room.
It only took me a few minutes to find my target, and once I came back downstairs I started talking to Susie, "I don't suppose you remember what happened a couple months ago…?"
Susie was confused, right up until she noticed the red dye I had in my hand.
She started blushing something fierce. "I-I thought we agreed we wouldn't speak of that again…!"
Silk looked over, and it seemed like she was trying VERY hard not to giggle. "I'm… I'm sorry? Mind explaining?"
Susie looked around, sighed in embarrassment, then explained, "W-well… I was trying to make some new sheets for the spare rooms, so I needed some dyed wool… but I accidentally tripped, and the dyes in my hand kinda… flew everywhere…"
"And that was the day we discovered that, if Susie wants to, she can actually dye herself. Watch!" I explained.
I gently took Susie's hand and slowly rubbed some of the red dye on her palm. The color quickly settled where I rubbed, quickly turning Susie's palm a shade of burning red.
The others were EXTREMELY interested in that. "Huh. That's… actually kinda neat." Diana admitted.
Susie blushed furiously. "Y-you wouldn't think so, if you had splotches of red and blue and yellow and Notch knows what else covered you in random spots up and down… I swear there was a gray spot on my lip that took forever to get out…"
"Yeah, but this time we'd be in control," I earnestly reasoned. "And think: it'd be the perfect way to hide yourself. I mean, do YOU often expect the person you're seeing is actually a slime that managed to dye itself a different color?"
Susie mulled it over for a moment longer, then looked at her hand. "I… well, I mean… it's not a bad idea, but… how do you plan to make me look… human?"
In response, I laid out a rainbow of dyes and flowers along the table, and then held up a small wooden bowl. "Obviously, we can't just use one color. Sooo, let's try mixing some and see what we can come up with."
Everyone started taking random colors of dye and started mixing them together in separate small bowls, while Susie quietly watched to avoid getting any of the stuff on her.
After many failed creations, we finally found a mix that seemed to work, a large mix of pink, red, a dash of orange, and white dyes made a color that, at least in the bowl, looked rather convincingly like normal human skin.
Susie eyed up the mixture as I showed it to her. "Are… are you sure?"
"Only one way to find out. Arm please." I asked.
Susie tenderly held out her arm. I carefully rubbed the mixture up and down her arm, between her wrist and elbow.
Within a minute, her entire arm was caked in the stuff. And I gotta say: it really DID look convincing!
"I really think that might work." Andr giggled. The others agreed with similar notions.
Susie glanced at her arm again, eyeing up the different color on her arm. "I mean… it looks real enough, but… how exactly are you planning on doing the rest of me?"
"Well, I don't think we'd have to cover EVERY piece of you with the stuff. That'd be really wasteful. Instead, we'll just need to be creative." I responded.
I wasn't ruling out the idea of hiding Susie in a cloak. In fact, that was part of my 'master plan' all along. The dye thing just kinda sprouted from that.
Anyway, I explained to her how I was planning the whole affair: "We just need to dye the important parts of you: your head, hair, possibly hand and arms, and maybe the feet. Everything else, we can hide under clothes. Whatever outfit we decide you'll wear, we just have to see what's exposed and dye that appropriately. Then, once that's done, we just need to see how long the dye lasts. It comes out relatively quick with some vigorous scrubbing, but if we were to leave it alone, then we need to know how long would it last. All that remains is just making sure that we keep enough dye on hand, and that'd be that. Easy."
Silk snorted. "'Easy'? You're talking, like, at LEAST five or six things to keep tabs on at almost all times."
"True…" Andr responded.
"But certainly doable!" Snowy added. "If I get away with hiding myself, then surely you can, Mistress!"
Susie looked at all the others, and then finally at me. She gave one more glance at her arm, and then stared at me and asked, "Are… are you sure… that you want to do this, just so that I can come with?"
"Yes." I agreed whole-heartedly.
I could see Susie's eyes twinkle just a bit at my statement, but she glanced away as blush found it's way once again to her cheeks. "W-well… I-I'll keep an eye on this and… let you know how long it lasts. Then we'll see about clothes."
I grinned. "Don't worry. Everything will work out fine. You'll see."
The next few days beyond that went by quickly, almost scarily so.
Susie had reported to me that, while the color DID stay on her arm for a good long while, it started to peel away (or more accurately, just kinda fade away) about an hour after application, becoming much more predominantly green not long after. So Susie couldn't be outside for any longer than an hour, not without risking people realizing what she is.
Over the course of the remaining three days, Snowy, Andr, and Diana had taken to flower picking. They were each tasked with finding all of the red, pink, and orange flowers they could find, as well as bring back any bones they could find to turn into bone meal, and then further into white dye. Diana kinda found that last bit rather undesirable for obvious reasons, but Snowy was more than up for the task, and had brought back half a stack of bones for me on just the first day.
That left me and Silk to do the work for the other side of the equation, making clothes that would properly hide the bulk of Susie's body. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Susie actually never really wears clothes. Her 'dress' is technically a part of her body, so if she ever wanted to, she COULD change its appearance into something else, or take it off entirely, but it's not actual clothing. It's just an extension of her body that she decided to have look like a dress.
But for this to work, she would need to wear some actual man-made clothes, so me and Silk got to work. Susie was rather nervous the whole time: turns out that although she enjoyed making clothes, it was a very different feeling have clothes made specifically for her. She especially had the deepest blush when I was going around measuring her shoulder distance and such (Of course I was teasing her the entire time by whispering into her ear about how cute she was when she was embarrassed, which just made her blush harder, but that's beside the point).
Once we got all the measurements needed, Silk immediately got to work, and it was clear she knew what she was doing. I've never actually seen her make any clothes before, but even I could tell that she had experience.
She asked if Susie had any preferences on what we made. Susie responded that she preferred dresses (considering her usual attire, an obvious answer), but she had always wondered how the clothes I wore on a day-to-day basis would look on her: specifically a jacket and some jeans.
Silk seemed to REALLY enjoy hearing that. "You're in luck. I used to make jackets all the time when I was learning, so I could make them with one hand tied behind my back. And jeans are easy enough, which is great for us."
The only problem with the clothes is that, well, it takes a long time. As fast and as professional as Silk is with making them, it still was gonna take her at least till Friday to finish. And that was a problem, because if we messed up somehow in our measurements, or if Silk made a mistake while making the clothes and needed to start over, we simply wouldn't have enough time.
Friday slowly drew closer. By Thursday night Silk had the pants done and was almost finished with the jacket, but she needed a little more time to make sure the whole thing would stay together.
On Friday, everyone got together at breakfast to pool our supplies together and see how we were standing.
Team Flower Power (as we jokingly referred to them, because they seemed to be embarrassed by it) had done their job well. They had nearly two whole stacks of each flower we needed, plus an entire stack of bones courtesy of Snowy. Honestly, she probably had found far more, but one look on her face when I asked how many she had seemed to indicate she had taken at least a good portion to keep for herself. Again: wolves are weird.
Anyway, with the dye situation settled, and with Silk almost done with the clothes, it suddenly occurred to me that other people should also come with to join the party. I mean, Paige DID invite a few of us.
At first, I thought Snowy would be DYING to come with (considering she had already been begging me on Day 1 of the whole deal), but surprisingly when I asked, she responded that she'd been getting tired trying to find all those bones, and while she still really DID want to come, she thought it might be better for her to stay behind and watch the home front. Same deal with Silk: the amount of time she was putting into making those clothes was astonishing, but it was clearly taxing her abilities. Asking her to make what was basically an entire outfit in three days is not something that everyone can do, you know. So she openly agreed to stay with Snowy to rest and keep the house in order.
Andr and Diana, however, did want to come with, although Andr had some mild reservations considering her height. I explained to her that as long as she kept her nerves, and by extension her purple Ender particles, at bay, she'd be able to get in no problems. Height is not something that really arouses suspicion.
"I mean, take it from me. I'm so tall by human standards I almost can't fit in doorways to begin with, and yet they don't even bat an eye. As long as you don't blow it with a stray particle, you'll be fine." I reassured.
Andr seemed unsure, but she steeled her resolve and told me she'd be able to keep her nerves under control.
All that was left was completing the outfit. It was a tense few hours while Silk and Susie worked together to get it all together, but finally, around five in the afternoon, it was complete.
Silk came down to the main, where everyone except Susie had been waiting. She cleared her throat gently and gestured towards the stairs, "Presenting, Susie's finished outfit!"
Susie came down, blushing a fair bit. We all got up and studied her clothes as she came down, and I saw more than a few eyebrows go north.
It was a strange thing, seeing Susie wearing actual man-made clothes. The jacket the Silk had made wasn't anything special: a plain zip-up with Susie's name stitched above her left breast. The cuffs, neckhole, and bottom all were milk-white in color, with a similar white stripe running down along the zipper line. The pants, as far as I could tell, were ordinary blue jeans.
Susie sorta twitched a little as she watched us, likely out of nerves. "H-how… how does it look…?" she asked hesitantly.
"Honestly, you look good." Diana responded.
"It suits you!" Snowy responded.
"Very nice." I added on, a smile on my lips.
Susie seemed to grow further embarrassed by the compliments. "It's… really strange wearing this stuff…"
"Is it uncomfortable?" Andr asked.
"N-no, but… I think I'm just not used to it yet…" she responded, twisting around to look at her backside. I could see that Silk had stitched some sort of design on the back, but from the awkward angle it wasn't possible to make out what it was.
"Well, at least the hard part is done. Those clothes should be more than convincing to anyone we meet at Blockington. Now, onto the other half of the equation…"
We had all agreed (Susie with some more embarrassment) that we would do a test run of the dyes, just to make sure it all looked natural enough on a large scale.
"We don't need to worry about the feet, that'll be covered by shoes." I responded, gently running some dye in Susie's hair (she allowed me pick whatever color I wanted, so I picked a yellow-orange mix that strongly resembles gold).
"S-shoes? When did-?" she started to ask.
"It's one of my old pairs." Silk responded. "It would be pretty weird for you to show up without wearing shoes, you know. Snowy, mind getting them?"
Snowy ran off as me and Diana gently dyed Susie more and more. She was especially embarrassed when we got to her face.
"Here, I'll do it… let's go back here, just to save face…" I whispered, gently leading Susie into the back.
Snowy left the shoes outside the door, and I quickly grabbed them while Susie stood nervously in front of the bed. I continued to lather more dye into her face bit by bit, until finally…
"There we go…" I whispered, stepping back to admire our handiwork.
You could barely tell it was the same person. The skin looked near perfect, the hair felt natural, and Susie had even agreed to rub a small amount of white dye into her eyes (don't ask, Susie wouldn't tell me how), so even THEY looked like a normal human's eyes. Coupled with the human clothes, anyone that didn't know it was Susie would easily be fooled.
"You look perfect." I responded, grinning ear-to-ear.
Susie appeared embarrassed, but I couldn't see any blush appear on her cheeks. Probably for the best anyway, as it'd probably still be green under those dyes.
I gently took her hand and guided her out.
The others were staring at Susie with wide eyes, and all the attention was starting to get to Susie. She was being VERY shy, uncharacteristically, but all that did was make her seem more human.
"W-wow!" Silk responded. "I-I know the clothes looked good, but with all of the dyes and whatnot… you look perfect!"
"No one will suspect a thing." I agreed.
Susie looked around at all the smiling faces of her friends. "Does… does it really look good?"
Nods followed her question. Susie looked down and fidgeted with the hem of her jacket. She still appeared slightly nervous, but took a deep breath.
"W-well… if you guys think I'm ready… then I'm ready." she responded.
With Susie's disguise now settled, the rest of us prepared our supplies. Diana, with some rather mild reluctance, agreed to throw on a sweater and some sweatpants, as her regular outfit would probably earn more than a few stares at Blockington. Andr also was ready, though she was still nervous about her height. I once again reassured her that she would be fine ("You could probably even make a joke out of it, something about how your friends called you an Ender growing up," I offered).
Beyond that, we also made sure to pack away enough supplies: spare outfits (at least for me, Andr, and Diana, but it wouldn't be a stretch to possibly grab a few for Susie as well while there), plenty of resources to turn into money, some spare tools, the works. We even squared away a fair bit of food so that, should we end up getting caught up with something between home and Blockington, we'd be safe for a couple days.
Susie's dyes, true to her word, lasted a solid hour before it became much more noticeable that she was turning green. Honestly, for a good ten minutes it almost seemed like she was just getting sick, but the colors drained away before long, leaving Susie back to her normal green color.
She was noticeably subdued at dinner, not to the point of others noticing, but I certainly did. I managed to pull her aside once we all decided to turn in early for the night.
"Is everything alright?" I asked.
She quietly stared at my feet, unable to meet my eyes.
"Susie, is everything okay?" I asked, gently holding onto either side of her.
She slowly looked up, and… she looked worried. More than that, even. She looked afraid. "I… I-I'm scared, Cameron…"
This was sudden. I gently steered Susie to sit on the bed, staring into her face with great concern. "What? Why?"
"I… w-we've put so much into this plan…" she slowly stammered. "B-but… I-I can't help but… worry… what if something goes wrong? What if I get discovered? What if we ALL get discovered?"
She stared into my eyes as I processed it. She continued, "I-I… I'm so worried that I'll get found out while we're there… I-I'm afraid that i-if word gets out…"
"You'll be hurt." I finished. "You don't want to be found out."
Susie nodded her head. "I-it was already bad enough, having to deal with m-my own kind berating me for… what I am. I-if any of those people find out…"
I was listening with rapt attention. Susie didn't often like to talk about her old life, as it had been hard on her. I can't really speak for her, but I can't imagine it being easy, being half-human trying to live in an all-mob territory. She's told me stories… stories that even I don't even want to retell. For a bunch of bouncy blocks of slime, Susie certainly made them sound like the monsters I knew them as.
"But that isn't going to happen," I retorted, cupping her hands into my own.
"How can you be so sure?" Susie asked, her eyes widening as her nerves grew. "H-humans are a LOT smarter than a pack of slimes… if they were to even catch a word that I was… who I am…"
She didn't finish her thought.
"Then they'd have to deal with me first." I fiercely rumbled, staring my love directly in the eye. "Because I'd rather end myself than let anyone lay a hand on you. I promise you, Susie, now and forever. Things will be fine."
Susie was silent for all of about ten seconds, just allowing my words to fully sink in. When they finally did, I saw her lower lip tremble.
"C… Cameron…" she breathed, tears forming in the pits of her eyes.
She didn't get another word out before I threw my own arms around her, patting her on the back and gently saying, "Shushhh… it's okay."
Susie didn't start crying, but she was shaking very hard, as though she was about to. When I finally pulled away, I saw a single tear had slipped out, leaving a shiny tear track on her beautiful face.
"I-I… don't want… to leave you…" she whispered gently.
"And you won't. Not now, not ever." I agreed in the same whisper.
I couldn't resist. I pulled Susie to me.
She closed her eyes the moment our lips connected. She loosely wrapped her arms around my torso, giving me most of the control.
It felt like an eternity, with us just sitting there, on the bed. Susie's heart was going quite fast, be it from nerves or excitement, I couldn't tell.
Finally, I pulled away. Susie was staring into my eyes, and slowly seemed to be relaxing, if only for a time.
"O-okay… if… if you really are sure…" she whispered, her eyelids drooping as exhaustion suddenly started taking her.
She gently sat there, swaying gently, not really asleep or awake. I gently rested my hand on the back of her head and, very gently, pulled her close to me.
She snuggled up against me, apparently quite comfy using my shoulder as a pillow. She managed to stay awake for about five seconds before her eyes closed and she immediately let out gentle snores.
I stayed there for another ten minutes, just watching her sleep soundly against me, before I gently lifted her off, moved the both of us to the other end, and laid her against the pillows.
I quickly brushed and changed, and soon enough returned before Susie had enough time to realize I had moved. Her unconscious form wasted no time in gently pulling herself towards me. I guess I must've felt pretty warm to her.
Her gentle snores were soothing, and after ten minutes of watching her delicate features, I found myself nodding off.
I remember one last thought before completely drifting off.
'Everything will be fine.'
...
I woke the next morning, morning sunlight streaming through the window.
Susie was still passed out cold, and somehow she had managed to snuggle up so close to me that she was practically using my chest as her pillow.
After a tense ten minutes, in which I gently shifted Susie off of me as gently as possible to not disturb her, I rose from bed and quickly dressed, heading for the main.
Turns out I wasn't the only one awake. Andr and Diana had already woken and were at the table, heads together and talking. It was only the gentle sound of the door closing that caused them to look over.
"Oh, Cameron." Diana greeted, turning.
She had put on the sweater I lent her. It was definitely not the best fit: a size or two too big on her at least, but as we simply didn't have enough time to make another one, it would have to do. Worst case scenario, I would just have to say she couldn't get one and had to borrow mine. Not exactly a lie, though right next to one.
She seemed to be picking at the woolen fabric in a fair bit of distaste. "Eurgh… I don't know how you manage to put up with this stuff, Cameron…"
"It helps if you wear an undershirt, y'know." I responded.
Diana seemed appalled. "That'd be even worse. At least this is baggy enough… trying to put on a second shirt under this would be even weirder…"
"At least you look normal enough now." Andr offered. "It's actually pretty chilly out today, so hopefully you'll blend right in."
I looked over at the table. They had been reorganizing their stuff one last time before the trip. I could see Andr was carrying the dyes that Susie would need, as well as her spare clothes and whatnot. Diana, on the other hand, had taken to keeping all of our materials to exchange and whatnot safe, right alongside her bow (I had given her old one back after she gave me the glowing one again) and a rather liberal amount of arrows.
"Susie's still asleep for now." I told them. "Speaking of, I figure it would be best if we wait till we're near Blockington before we hide her. Gives us more time to actually keep her hidden and whatnot."
"Works for me." Andr agreed.
"So what's the master plan again? Are we staying for just the day, or are we spending the night, or…?" Diana asked.
"Knowing my sister, she'll want to do everything at the end of the day, so we'll probably end up staying the night. But just to be safe, we're packing as though we'll be gone a week. After all, it pays to be prepared for the worst." I explained, setting my own bag down and looking through it.
Apart from the usual assortment of books and spare tools, I was also bringing the photo album Susie had made. Paige might like seeing it. And… who knows, maybe we both need to reflect on the picture one more time.
Andr and Diana both nodded, and Andr said something about making breakfast, and headed for the counter. Diana went to go talk with Silk, leaving me to make sure I had everything.
I glanced over at the bookshelf to make sure I had all the books I wanted…
And my eyes grazed over the strange book.
I had placed it on the obsidian table, and it sat there, closed for now, but ready to flip open the moment someone approached. Innocent at first glance.
But, for some reason, I couldn't help but feel like the book…
Was trying to tell me something.
I slowly approached it and took it off the stand. I tend to not look through it too often, useful as it may be. It… unnerved me.
Andr didn't seem to have noticed me. I'm not exactly sure what she, or any of the others, would say if I choose to take the book.
Unsure as to if I dared to flip through it, I settled on pocketing it. Who knows… might be useful.
The rest of the house slowly woke up, with Snowy and Silk, each with a rather humorous bit of bed-hair each, coming at the smell of food.
Andr was just tipping eggs onto plates for everyone when I realized that we still didn't have Susie. She hadn't come out of the bedroom yet.
"Wonder what's keeping her…" I murmured.
"Might still be sleeping, she looked pretty tired at dinner yesterday." Silk replied casually, taking a bit of toast Andr had just set aside.
I stood and excused myself to go wake Susie up. She did seem a bit tired yesterday, though surely not enough to warrant still being out cold even now?
I quietly opened the door and glanced in, calling out, "Susie?"
No response. I opened the door wider and peeked in.
"Susie…? Are you… okay?"
Susie was still on her back, her eyes closed. It looked like she had hardly moved from the spot that I left her.
But… her face…
It wasn't relaxed. Not even in the slightest. Instead, her sleepy expression was contorted into a fearful gaze, and she was gently twisting in place as though trying to escape someone's grasp…
"Susie!" I whispered, gently getting onto the bed next to her and gently grabbing her shoulders.
Her expression grew even more scared, and now that I was right next to her I could hear her whispering words under her breath, "N-no… let me go…"
"Susie, wake up!" I pleaded, shaking her shoulders.
Susie was resisting even harder than before, but I kept my firm hold on her. I kept calling for her to wake up, and suddenly…
She gasped and sat up straight, her eyes full of fear and shaking.
"C-Cameron! Th-they… us… we…" Susie blubbered, shaking horribly.
"Hey hey hey… it's okay… it's okay…" I gently stated, holding Susie close to me. "It was just a nightmare…"
Susie sat there, blubbering nonsense and tears starting to leak from her eyes, scared. Whatever her nightmare had been about (and considering how she had been reacting), it must've been really bad…
It took her a good ten minutes to call down. When she finally was calm-ish, she stared into my eyes with a great deal of trepidation.
"C-Cameron, I… I'm so sorry… I-I had the worst dream…" she whispered, her form still gently shaking. "I-I… I thought you… you were…"
She couldn't get the words out. It seemed as though the very thought made her recoil in fear, and she collapsed into me again, desperate for warmth and comfort.
I pulled her even tighter against me, feeling her shaky breath and trembling body. After a moment, I pulled apart ever so slightly, to stare her into the face.
"Susie… if you're this worried about going to Blockington, I hope you know that you don't need to go." I reminded her.
Susie, although still shaky and fearful, seemed even more taken back by my words. "B-but… we've already put so much work… in-into me going…"
"That doesn't mean you need to force yourself to go just to make us happy." I reminded her, gazing into her eyes deeply. "Now, Susie, I need you to ask yourself something. And I mean, like, REALLY ask yourself."
Susie stared at me as I asked, "Do you REALLY want to come with? Or do you want to stay here, where it's safe?"
The question hung in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time. Susie kept gently fidgeting, unsure of how to answer.
Finally, she took a shaky deep breath. "I… I don't… I…"
She looked up, looked into my face, and finally spit out, "I do… but I'm so scared of getting caught…"
I hugged Susie once more. "Susie, I promise you. As long as we take the necessary precautions, there should be no reason that anyone there has any reason to suspect you. They don't even know you exist, after all."
Susie gently shook, still afraid. I tried to reassure her with a kiss.
"And I'll keep telling you everything will be fine until we're home, safe and sound." I added on once we broke apart.
Susie stared into my eyes, still nervous and afraid, but… it looked as though she was finally relaxing into my words.
"You… you promise?" she asked.
"I promise." I agreed.
Susie hesitated for a little longer before finally sighing deeply. "O-okay… as long as you're sure…"
I kissed her once more to further reassure her. "Then let's go eat something, and get ready."
I gently lead Susie out into the main. The others were all in conversation when we emerged, but they paid us no mind. They were all spiritedly talking about the trip.
Susie and I quietly took our seats, and I quietly encouraged her to eat at least a little before we traveled. She told me she wasn't hungry and barely ate anything.
Once breakfast was finally wrapped up, the four of us taking the trip all made one last check to be sure we had everything we needed. Susie put on her outfit, we bid Snowy and Silk a good-bye, and off we went.
The trip was uneventful, save for Diana somehow getting her sweater caught in a couple branches on the way (which I have no idea how she even managed).
We reached Blockington, and I was once again struck by the sheer size of the place. I've probably already mentioned this, but the city has been rapidly expanding, and by the looks of things, there's a very grand building that is nearing completion at the very end of the construction.
We all halted here. "Okay, before we go any further, let's get you ready, Susie."
Susie nervously nodded, and before long she was all dyed up and ready to go. I made a note on my watch that we needed to reapply or be in a 'safe zone' (like Paige's apartment) at one-thirty to keep her safe.
With Susie safely disguised, we made the short trip down the rest of the way, and were soon in front of the gates.
I knew right away something was… off. I was used to there being several guards out here (it makes sense having a few at the border, after all), but I the most I had ever seen was four, and it was clear that two of them were supposed to be on the inside.
Today there was almost a DOZEN guards standing outside the gate. And what was stranger, they all seemed to be tense, expectant.
"Well… that's not normal…" I murmured.
"There's a LOT of guard here…" Andr murmured back.
"That's exactly my point." I whispered back. "I don't know why there's so many guards out here… maybe they had some sort of attack recently?"
"It didn't look like it…" Diana whispered back.
One of the guards hailed as us we approached. "Traveller. Requesting entrance once again?"
"Yes, sir." I agreed.
"Unfortunately, that won't be possible." the guard curtly responded.
"What? Why?" I asked, surprised. The guards had NEVER had a reason to deny entry before.
"Very important business is planned for today. Very important." the guard replied, sounding a tad annoyed. "It would be wise for you to clear off."
"I can't. My sister asked me to meet her today." I pressed on.
"Do you have proof?" the guard asked.
Susie meekly raised a hand. "Err… yes, I do."
I glanced over at her. She reached a hand into her travel bag and pulled out the letter from my sister. I guess she thought I had forgotten it, when in reality I hadn't thought to even bring it.
The guard took the letter, eyeing up Susie. "And… you are?"
"S-Susie." Susie responded, taking a half-step back. "Err… is… something wrong?"
"No… I thought you had something on your face. Nevermind me." the guard responded, looking down at the letter.
Internally I breathed a sigh of relief. Susie's disguise, so far, was working.
The guard finished reading the letter and then turned to one of the others. "Dominick, go retrieve this…" his eyes read the letter once more, "...Paige Wallis. Go get her and bring her here. If she recognizes this crew, we'll let them in.
The second guard, Dominick, nodded in agreement and swiftly entered the city. It was a tense couple of minutes, I almost suggested that we bag the whole idea: time wasn't something we could afford to waste right now.
Thankfully, the guard returned, and my sister was right behind him, looking rather confused until she saw me.
"Miss Paige, this man here claims that you were planning to have a party with him and his cohorts. Is this true?" the first guard asked.
Paige saw me and immediately realized what was going on. "Oh, yes! Sorry, I would've been here to help, but I forgot to mention what time they should come… never mind, yes, I know them." she responded quickly.
The first guard grunted something, looked at the letter once more, and then sighed. "Fine. You four may enter. But if I catch word of any funny business…"
He let the threat hang there. I suddenly realized just how many guards there were, and how each of them was equipped with a rather sharp-looking iron sword. And Notch knows how many were also inside…
The guards parted and allowed us to enter. Just like I thought, the guards (once everyone had been cleared) paid no mind to Andr's height, and barely even glanced at Susie or Diana's clothes. They were, as far as they were concerned, normal humans.
I was about to follow after when the original guard stopped me. "Sir. A word, if I may."
The guard pulled me to the side, away from the other guards and my sister, who was watching with a very worried expression.
"I know you have plans to come." he started. "And I know that this is probably something important to you. But it might be a good idea to get your business done and leave as soon as possible. Things here… they aren't the best for travelers to get mixed up in."
"I mean, we'll only be here tomorrow at the latest." I responded, surprised at the guard's warning.
"Even so… just be careful. It would be all too easy for you to get roped into something that you have no business in." the guard responded.
I didn't know what to say about that extraordinary statement, so I stayed quiet. The guard lead me back and I rejoined my friends and sister.
"What was that about?" Andr asked.
"No idea. Let's just get inside…"
The main street of Blockington had hardly changed from when I last saw it, but everything felt a lot more bustling than normal. My sister hardly noticed, though. She told us that we should get to her apartment first, before we do anything else.
"Actually, I've been promoted." Paige responded, her mouth breaking into a small smile for the first time since I've been here. "I've been able to afford a much larger space now, so you'll get to see that firsthand."
The new apartment was in the same building as before, but up several levels. Up and up, through five or six levels we climbed, until we finally reached the door that Paige said was her new apartment.
She allowed us to enter, and all I could say was, "Woah."
Woah was right. The apartment was far different than the last place Paige called home. It was a lot bigger than her last, and everything felt a lot cleaner than I remembered: perhaps she hadn't been here long. Even the same furniture I remembered from before felt different, as though she had taken a LOT of time to spruce them up.
Before I could even comment on it, though, my sister closed the door behind us and spread her arms out in a 'welcome' gesture. "Well… you actually made it!"
"Nice place." I snickered. "What, you have to go hungry for a week to pay for it?"
Paige stuck her tongue out at me. "For your information, minors who support themselves get reduced pricing on housing. Unless YOU want to start paying for my house bills."
"Yea- that's a no." I responded, grinning.
Paige then looked around at the others. "So… who's your new friends?"
She glanced over at Diana, who had been spending a good five minutes of her time tugging at the collar and sleeves of her sweater, clearly uncomfortable. "Eurgh… can I PLEASE take this thing off now? It's so itchy…"
"Erm… that's…" I started to murmur.
"As long as you're wearing something underneath, I don't mind." Paige responded.
"That's… the problem…" I started to warn, but by that point Diana had already gratefully begun shedding off the sweater.
"Guh! Thank Notch above!" Diana praised, the sweater finally off. And Paige suddenly was seeing Diana with her normal 'shirt'.
My sister was wide-eyed. "That's… what I was trying to warn you about." I sighed, embarrassed for Diana.
Diana didn't get it. "So… you're Cameron's sister?" Diana asked, pleasantly smiling. "Diana. Cameron's told me about you, of course."
My sister was still staring at Diana… or at least her wardrobe choice. "That… do I even want to bother?" she asked, now looking at me.
"You… get used to it." I sighed. "More or less."
Paige blinked at me, then decided better of it. "Riiight… erm, so… I'm guessing… half skeleton?"
Diana agreed, sheepishly rubbing her neck. "What gave it away? The bow on my back?"
Paige choice not to respond, simply staring at Diana's clothes one final time.
"Anyway…" I loudly announced, eager to move on. "At least this place is safe. Right, Andr?"
Andr gave a small nod. "Y-yeah… you were right, they didn't really care about my height…"
Paige took a second look at Andr and, eyes wide again, asked, "Wait, you're an Enderman? Er, Ender… woman?"
Andr blushed a bit taken back by Paige's suddenly attention shift. "Err, y-yes…"
The purple Ender particles were flying around her in response to her nerves. I was grateful that she had managed to keep it under control before, so I didn't say anything about it now.
My sister was wide smiles. "I've always kinda liked Ender people… you're very pretty, you know."
That only served to make Andr blush even harder, and she mumbled something akin to thanks and retreated into her thoughts. Paige seemed a bit giggly at Andr's reaction.
She then turned her attention to Susie, and it was clear that even though the two had met, the slime girls' disguise was still working quite well. "Well, don't believe we've properly met."
She started to say something else, but then Paige's expression changed. She suddenly looked more… curious. "Wait… have we met? You look… familiar…"
Susie seemed a bit more relaxed now that we were with my sister. "Well… guess that proves the disguise works really well then."
Paige was flabbergasted. "W-wait a minute… that voice… Susie?!"
Susie gave a little smile and a nod. Paige was dumbstruck.
"H-how?! You're the LAST person I would've expected to get in, how did you-"
Susie started giggling, rather cheerfully too. Seems as though she was finally starting to get used to this whole thing. No matter how much you worry about something, finally doing it makes it a lot easier.
"Truth be told, it was all Cameron's idea… he said that, so long as we take proper precautions, there shouldn't be a reason why I couldn't come…" she explained.
For the first time, Paige didn't look as happy as she did before. She looked… well, nervous. "U-um… well, I mean… I guess it works, but… that's still really dangerous…"
"So is keeping Snowy hidden by throwing a cloak over her." I reasoned. "We know the risks, and we're prepared."
Paige hesitated for a very long time. It was almost like she was fighting with herself to say something.
But eventually, she caved. "Well… o-oh! Right! I-I'm sorry, you guys must be hungry from the trip, hold on…"
Paige darted into the kitchen, calling for us to 'make ourselves at home.'
True to her word, Paige really had planned a small party for me. Although it wasn't anything like the party the girls had thrown for me back home, it certainly was nice, and I enjoyed myself.
I always forget that Paige is a rather good host. She threw together a wonderful dinner (lamb stew and pork tenderloin, yum!), and sprung to grab a ginormous cake for us.
That night, we all enjoyed a small, relaxing day of lounging about, eating and drinking, and chatting. Paige and Andr were instant hits, and the two of them tended to get into very deep conversations with each other. Andr particularly liked Paige because she felt familiar to her.
"Probably with how much time she spends around End." I offered.
Andr gave a small smile, but Paige…
Why did she look a bit downtrodden?
"Err… did I say something?" I asked, nervous.
"No, just… End and I haven't been able to see each other a lot lately." Paige murmured. "It's getting even harder to leave the city and smuggle him in and out. The new security protocols aren't exactly helping matters, you know."
"Why not? Didn't he say that you guys were able to get him in and out okay?" Susie asked. She had long since shed her human clothes and had long since changed back to her normal vivid green (at which point we made it a point to make sure the curtains were drawn and the door locked).
"Yeah, but with the recent construction that's going on, and with the rumors about a very important individual coming to visit, security has been on the prowl as of late. Guards are walking around almost everywhere, there's been curfews enacted, and most travellers can't get in without someone from the inside letting them in, like with you guys."
"What, do they think a band of mobs are just gonna randomly invade?" I asked.
"I don't know… to be honest, a lot of people seem worried by these sudden changes. But, then again, old Fossil Head has never really been one to put anything but his own ideas first…"
"Sorry, come again? 'Fossil Head?'" Diana asked, with a tad of irritation in her tone.
"That's just the nickname people have taken to calling the Governor. Governor Reginald is ANCIENT. He's nearing a hundred, and yet he still hasn't done the sensible thing and retired yet. He keeps going on about how he's 'the greatest thing to happen to Blockington since sliced bread!'"
"Is he a good guy, though?" Andr asked.
"That depends on the context. Personally? He's actually pretty nice." Paige admitted. "But that doesn't do much to mask that he's… well, his way of going about running this city might have worked well fifty years ago, but… not so much nowadays."
The rest of the evening was basically Paige venting a bit about Blockington as a whole. The way she talked, she seemed like she was growing a bit irritated with Blockington as a whole, and I could see why. Above all else, she wasn't able to meet with End as much as she used to, but then there was all the minor complaints, like just having to hide your true values inside… keep them away…
…
I started thinking. Ever since I met Susie, I've always had a lingering desire that humans and monsters shouldn't be only able to JUST be able to get along. They should be able to LIVE together. And yet, from what I'm hearing, it's either you support monsters, or you support humans, and if you don't 'belong' in either group, you aren't invited. Even operations that came CLOSE, like the SS Corps, didn't really have much going for it in terms of humans (I mean, look at how they treated Diana and Silk towards the end).
It… made some gears start turning in my head. What if… WHAT IF…
I opened my mouth to start asking the question, when suddenly-
*BAM BAM BAM*
Everyone in the room freezes. A gruff voice calls out from beyond the door. "Miss Paige? Is there a Miss Paige in here?"
Paige is quiet for all of about three seconds before, her face turning pale, she calls back, "Err, yes? What is it?"
"May I speak to you? Official business." the voice called back.
"Errr…" Paige hummed, pale as a ghost. It was clear who she was worried most for: the rest of us could pass easily, but Susie? We'd NEVER be able to disguise her in time.
Then, suddenly, I had a brain wave.
"Err, Paige?" I called out loudly. "Who's at the door?"
Paige and the others looked at me like I was insane. The voice outside came again, "Miss Paige, do you have visitors?"
"Yes, she DOES." I called back, looking at Susie, and then jerking my head towards the kitchen.
Susie gave me a confused look, then her eyes grew wide in understanding. Very, very quietly, she stood, and started tip-toeing into the kitchen and out of sight.
"O-oh, right! I DO have company over! I-I'm sorry, just entertaining some friends!" Paige continued, suddenly realizing my plan. "S-sorry, were we being too loud?"
"No, but I do need to speak with you. Urgent business." the voice answered, and now it sounded like they were getting annoyed.
I looked over. Susie was in the kitchen now, and the bedrooms were just around the corner. Then, another idea struck.
"I'm terribly sorry about this, sir." I called out, standing up. "How about me and my friends just go to the back for a little, while you and Miss Paige sort this out?"
"That may be for the best, lad." the voice agreed, sounding relieved.
Me, Andr, and Diana all hastily followed after Susie, taking great care that the person beyond the door heard us all head back towards the bedrooms.
Susie was there, her face pale. "What're we-"
"SHUSH!" I interrupted, covering Susie's mouth. "Less talky, more hidey."
The four of us dashed into the spare bedroom, and not a moment too soon. As I started filing everyone into the room, I could hear the voices of my sister and the person talking.
I shut the door quietly and quickly turned to the others. "Quick! If he comes back here, we gotta fix Susie's disguise!" I hissed.
The others all agreed. Susie stood quite still as the other two started getting the dyes ready. I opened the door a crack and tried to hear some of the conversation my sister was having…
"...terribly sorry for intruding, while you had guests. But this is rather important, and I think you need to hear this."
"I-important how?" my sister's voice floated over.
"Recently, during routine guard-duty, a tall Enderman was spotted in one of the forests surrounding our great city. Of course, this is of no great concern. However, it's worth noting that not five minutes after seeing this Enderman, a figure was seen walking towards the city, and it seemed like it came almost directly from where the Enderman was last seen."
"O-oh?" Paige wondered, trying, and failing, to sound calm. "R-really?"
A small squeak from Susie turned my attention back towards her. Diana and Andr had just reached Susie's armpits, and she couldn't help herself. She was rather ticklish.
"Don't be so hasty. Just do it fast and firm." Andr quietly instructed.
"I know, I know." Diana agreed, working as fast as she could.
I turned back to the door. Paige had just let out a very forced laugh. "You think the person who came out of the woods was ME?"
"I will admit, I do have trouble believing it." the person admitted, his voice sounding like he found the whole matter amusing. "Nevertheless, we do have to remain suspicious. Just answer me something and I'll go away."
"Okay…?"
"Have you ever seen a monster enter our city? At any point in time? It could have happened last year for all we care, I just need to ask if you have or not. Or… maybe a half-human?"
"Half-human?" Paige, managing to pull off a convincing tone of confusion.
I sneaked a glance at Susie. Her arms and legs were done, and she was zipping up her jacket as I watched. Now it was just the face, which took the longest as that included the hair.
Diana was lathering the golden hair dye when a deep chuckle reached me, and I returned to Paige. "I know, I know, it sounds odd. But trust me, it DOES happen, I've seen a fair few. There is a thing as people that are part human, and part monster. I just want to know if you've seen any, and if so, when."
"Hmm… I can't say I have…" Paige responded. "But, then again, if there WAS any half-humans, they wouldn't exactly be flaunting it for the public, would they?"
"This is very true." the person agreed.
"So, I can't say I have." Paige finished. I crossed my fingers, hoping that was all.
"Very well. Thank you for your time, Miss Paige." the person thanked, and by the sound of creaking floorboards, I guessed that he had risen up. "I'll be taking my leave, then. Oh, wait, perhaps I should say hello to your guests, apologize for intruding."
My face paled as I glanced over. Susie was almost ready, but not quite: a few more seconds…
"O-oh, no, it's okay! There's not from around here, so-" Paige responded.
"Nonsense. I barged in uninvited, so I would like to remedy this. Which room would they be in?"
The voices of the man and my sister were drawing VERY close now. At the very least, Susie was covered up now, so-
Then Diana quietly gasped. "The shoes!"
I looked down and felt my stomach suddenly drop. Susie had taken off her shoes back when we first arrived, and there was no way to grab them now. Not with the voices so close.
Without thinking, I tore through my bag and tossed her a pair of my socks. She got the message and hastily pulled them on, right as the voices were just outside the door.
A soft knock, and the door was slowly opening. A broad man wearing an iron chestplate and pants was framed in the doorway, with my sister beside him looking quite pale.
"Forgive my intrusion, my friends." the man apologized, jerking his head down in a short bow motion. "I just needed a brief word with Miss Paige here, but I shan't bother you folk much-"
The man paused, looking at Susie. I glanced at her, and I suddenly realized: the dyes around Susie's face were done decently, but Diana and Andr, in their haste, had only applied a rather thin layer of dye to Susie's face. She looked a tad pale-green, almost like she was sick.
"My dear, are you quite alright? You seem like you're going to the dogs." the man asked, quite concerned.
"She… doesn't travel too much." I immediately made up. "Must still be a bit queasy from the journey."
"Quite. I would probably get some rest if I were you." the man agreed.
The man gave one more bow and then left. We held our breath for a good long minute even after we heard the door quietly shut behind him.
Finally, we all collapsed, able to breathe again. I wiped away a thin bit of sweat off my brow, sighing, "That… was too close…"
"N-no kidding…" Susie agreed, shaking slightly.
We all converged back in the living room, but the mood had definitely taken a bit of a down-turn.
We all turned it a fair bit earlier than we would've normally. Diana and Andr decided to sleep in the living room, their logic being that they would act as makeshift guards: if something tried to come in, they'd likely wake up and be able to get everyone else roused and ready before anything bad could happen.
Susie and I, on the other hand, would be taking the guest bedroom, since it would be far safer for Susie to be hidden in another room rather than in plain sight.
I sighed as I slipped into bed, glancing at the window once last time to make sure the curtains were tightly drawn so that no one could peek in. They were.
Susie slid into bed next to me, her skin almost completely back to normal from the hasty paint job earlier. She was looking at me, judging my emotions.
"Well… not exactly the grand party I had hoped, but…" I sighed, rolling to my side to look at Susie.
"Well, there's always a bright side." Susie responded, scooting closer.
"Like what?" I asked, curious.
"We're still here. And… even though we had a few close calls, I'm still happy I was able to come with." she whispered, rubbing my arms gently.
I chuckled very gently. "Yeah… that's true…"
"I'm just glad we're not staying for very long. Can you imagine trying to live here, like, forever? I mean, I can imagine someone like Snowy managing, but someone like me? I'd barely last a week."
"Ah, c'mon, you'd be able to handle it!" I responded, pulling her closer to me.
"I doubt it… at least, not without you guys covering me. By myself, I'd be toast…" Susie reasoned.
"I guess, but… I dunno, as crazy as living in a city or… hell, even a village at this point, as crazy as all of that sounds…"
"It… does have some appeal…" I murmured, rolling over to my other side, musing on my own thoughts.
Susie didn't respond, but I could swear I could hear her expression morph into curiosity. She knew I was thinking about something HUGE.
And indeed, I was…
But I didn't worry too much about that, not yet, at least.
Rather, I instead twisted back over to my back, finally finding a comfortable position. "Good night, Susie…"
"Good night, Cameron…"
And slowly, the comforting veil of sleep took me...
I don't remember much of my dreams that night.
Which is very odd, since usually Vivianna and Aira are there to greet me. Usually THEY dictate how restful my dreams are.
Instead, I got shattered bits and pieces of a larger picture.
I saw me and Susie (not disguised, I might add) running through Blockington in the dead of night…
I saw my sister and Zach, both being approached by something I couldn't make out…
And the most unusual piece of all, I saw myself, sword in hand, standing in front of a desk somewhere, while a frail old man glared daggers at me.
I slowly opened my eyes once these pictures grew dark.
'What… was that all about?' I asked myself.
"We're not… quite sure ourselves." Vivianna piped up. "We registered it as some kind of nightmare, but we only had enough time to block out the bulk of it. We didn't even get a chance to warn you about it."
"As far as I figure," Aira added, "We blocked out most of the fear responses. If we let that one vision about you and Susie through, you probably would've felt like you were running for you life…"
'That's… odd.' I thought quietly. I looked over.
Susie was still asleep, blissfully unaware of the strange dream I had just experienced.
"Well… it's probably nothing, right?" I asked aloud.
No answer.
I slid out of the bed and headed for the main, disregarding changing out of my sleepware for a time.
Paige was up already, and she was holding a cup of something steamy and a piece of paper. She looked a bit troubled, but she definitely didn't seem as uptight as last night.
"Mornin'." I yawned, stretching.
Paige managed to smirk at me and held a finger to her lips. She gestured to the living room, where Diana and Andr were both in deep asleep.
"They look very relaxed, no?" she whispered.
I shrugged. "When's breakfast?"
"Soon." my sister agreed. "I've got plans to take you guys to this great restaurant I found. Then I wanna see what's around town. There's a few new shops that opened recently, and I've never had anyone really want to go on a proper shopping trip with."
It felt a little odd how much my sister had planned out for the day, but I pushed that aside. "Fair enough. When do you think the proper time to leave will be by?"
Then I noticed something. My sister was pursing her lips together, and she was glancing around rather rapidly, like she does when she's nervous.
"What? Weren't we just staying for the day?" I asked.
She took a deep breath, and then slid the paper she had in her hands towards me. "You'd better read this…"
I took the paper curiously. It appeared like a notice.
"It was on the ground in front of my door. Actually, EVERY apartment down the row had this on the ground in front of their doors. It's a notice to the entire city." my sister explained.
That didn't sound good. I glanced back at the paper.
It read:
"To All Blockington Residents: By the orders of Governor Reginald, all travel in and out of Blockington is to be heavily regulated. Non-residents travelling through Blockington are now subject to thorough examination before being allowed entry and exit. Please plan visitation and other events accordingly."
I was heavily confused. A terrible feeling started forming in the pit of my gut. "Wait… what?"
Paige looked as though she was breaking apart. "Blockington is under lockdown. Until it's lifted…"
She didn't need to finish.
We were trapped.
How original.
At least this time, Cam has a few good friends by his side. They can all suffer together this time!
Anyway…
WE HAVE DONE IT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE HAVE REACHED CHAPTER 50!
This milestone…! I almost didn't think we were gonna reach it!
Not, like, because it would be hard to reach fifty chapters, but because I just didn't think I could make a chapter that felt… good enough for such an occasion.
Hopefully I did a good enough job!
Here's to another twenty-five chapters to come! I wonder when I should have another extra long chapter: at seventy-five, or 100? Both of those feel like pretty big milestones to reach in their own rights.
I do hope the 10,000 words in this chapter wasn't TOO much. Honestly, there's a reason I've found a happy medium at closer to 7,000 words.
But, it just felt right to go above and beyond in this chapter!
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this extra-long chapter! There was a lot going on, and hopefully I made everything sound… decent. It's hard sometimes to have ideas work.
Especially if those ideas come to you at three in the morning. -_-
But enough of that!
I want to personally thank each and every one of you, once again, for taking the time out of your day to read this. If not for you, then I don't know WHAT I would be doing! Certainly not writing three stories, one of which has just hit a huge milestone of FIFTY CHAPTERS! That's amazing!
I sincerely hope you all are enjoying reading this story as I'm still enjoying writing it. I know that over the months, things have slowed down quite a lot... but I like to think that I'm just trying to make sure what you guys see is the best possible work I can make!
Until next time, my dear readers. This is ButterHunter, and I wish for each and every one of you to…
Stay awesome! =D
