CHAPTER 6 - THE WITCH'S DREAM OF THE DOLL
I felt something that time.
Red strings, all about my elbows to my wrists and the tips of my fingers.
That night, I twirled and danced with that black shadow, and it was the happiest moment of my life.
What happened that time, though? Why did I feel… happy? Why is that emotion so vivid where others weren't?
…
Ringo's body felt nothing but cold and wind, and then a rush of warm air enveloped her body as she felt herself floating down into a white void. A soft, sort of heavy air cushioned her fall, and she did not have the energy to question her surroundings. She didn't need to; this was a familiar place, but whether or not it was a good thing was debatable.
As Ringo steadied herself, there it was, face-to-face with her with a blue shine protruding from its center, the tips of its limbs and its facial features the same, and a drooly, crescent smile that never left its mouth.
There she is, Ringo Ando, in the white void facing the black shadow.
"Myyyyy, my, my. Hehe, what do we have here? Miss me, my dear Ringo?"
Its high-pitched, sing-song voice called out to her, and the heavy, condensed air of its shadow floated to her side, glowing blue fragments dripping from its chest and following its overall shape. The nameless black shadow giggled, and floated in a circle around her. "You're rather pretty-looking today, aren't you? Usually you're in your pajamas when I see you.. what could you possibly be doing tonight?"
"It's you," Ringo started, peering at its familiar form. "I- I think my appearance is the least of our concerns! How did I get here? How did you get here? One minute ago, I was falling in the sky, but now I'm in that weird place again, in my dreams…? Am I dreaming? Where am I, and how did this happen?"
The shadow snickered, and slipped into nothing. "Well, you sure aren't dreaming! Maybe it was his doing. I sure don't control how you got here this time around, sorta," it replied cryptically, the lighthearted tone taking away from the serious nature of her situation. "But, I know for a fact that you are totally, perfectly, 100% safe in here! Unless that dingbrain like, forgets, which won't happen. That wacko's always, aaaaalways thinking about you! Weirdo."
"Always? That sounds like a little bit of a stretch, don't you think? And how would you know? How are you here, anyway?"
"I just am! Can't explain it, even if I did, don't wanna! Teehee!"
"Don't 'teehee' me! That doesn't explain anything–though, you said you didn't know, so I can't blame you there, I suppose. Regardless… how am I still alive? Unless I'm dead- ouch!"
The black shadow phased through her body and in a matter of seconds, a small object hit her back. Ringo turned to see what it was, only to find nothing; how, then, could that have happened. "Huh… That's weird I felt like a rock had hit me," she mumbled. "Um, by any chance, did you throw a rock at me? How'd you do that? There's nothing here!"
"Simply will a rock to appear from the aether," the shadow chirped, its bright and drooly smile reflected in the corner of her eye. "It's not hard to do! And it only proves you sure are alive, Ringo. Not sure how you're gonna get out of here, but with a bit of magic maybe you'll get out the same way you came in."
Magic? Did Ecolo know how to use magic? This was probably something she should've noted down, or even thought to ask. Upon thinking about it, Ecolo had never cast any magic that she'd seen before. Perhaps she should ask them to perform some–or, actually, she should ask the black shadow, since it knows so much about them.
"Does… Ecolo know how to use magic? It's the only explanation as to how I got here," the redhead started, turning to walk towards the black shadow, slight hesitance in her steps. "Ah- But you don't know who Ecolo is, I think. And somehow, you know much about them… You're rather confusing yourself."
"He sure dooooooes! Very, VERY basic though. Only knows how to make stuff appear and disappear. We're kinda friends-ish so I know lots about 'em!" it proudly shouted, smug snickers escaping its crescent, drooly mouth. "As to how you got here, well, find out for yourself! I sure don't know! I know that guy real well, but it's not like I know everything about that clown. I wish I could tell you, I really do."
The way it described them was so light and happy Ringo could not feel it in herself to take it seriously. Though this information drop was quite useful, if not almost plot-breaking for her, if Ecolo could only make things appear and disappear, how did she end up here?
"If they know how to make things disappear, could it be possible he made me disappear, or threw me into a pocket dimension like Raina?" she asked, reaching out her hands to feel for potential walls, which strangely seemed to solidify and disintegrate at the same time. "Oh- My apologies. The former Duchess, Her Grace Raina Hallieu, sealed herself away in a "pocket dimension" in a handbag… Could this be similar, black shadow thing?"
The shadow shrugged, and smirked. "Who knows? Ask the guy yourself! This sure is similar to a dream world and less like a pocket-whatever, but they're already similar in their own right," its voice echoed, as the white void around faded into a black at the edges of the makeshift horizon and the shadow with it. "Maybe you are dreaming. Maybe I did visit you. Maybe all of this never happened. Maybe even, I didn't visit you in the first place. Don't ask me! That's not my job, Ringo dear."
Ringo felt the ground tremble and break apart as everything drowned in black so far that she could not see herself or the silhouette of her hands before her. The blue light around her swirled and mixed, and then blinked out to nothing.
"Well, haven't you gotten curiouser and curiouser. You were rather pitiful when we first met, not knowing anything."
The high-pitched, playful, somewhat shrill voice…
Falling, falling, falling, onto something like wood and fabric…
Some kind of liquid fell from the side of her face down to the ends of her cheeks, and green eyes met a familiar servant's blue, that ever-present wide, drooly smile and the voice that changed tones every other sentence.
"Rise and shine, Ringooooo! You recovered quickly, didn't you?"
"Man overboard!"
The shouting of sailors and the bright lights faded out as the youth with long turquoise hair was carried into the sickhouse, thin and latticed net still encasing their unconscious body drenched in seawater, and he watched as they were laid down in a cot next to him.
"Who's that?" he asked, somewhat cold fuschia eyes peering at the equally-somewhat-formally dressed body next to him gasping for air. "Sorry, I really don't know anyone in this town. Miracle if everyone I know survived. By the Six, I hope they're okay." He shivered sitting up, dusting off excess sand from the inside of his wrinkled silk shirt.
"Not sure. We've been having quite a few newcomers in the kingdom recently, including you," the blonde-haired wizard replied, preparing a cup of water and a handful of some strange-looking blue, grassy plant as a floating spirit-creature just as blue followed him. "Though, I do believe there are people you know in the kingdom right now, but I'm not sure where they are. After all, you were carried in by this odd chatterbox girl in green, and a pair of twins skipping at her side hand-in-hand. Tee, was your name? Take it easy. You've got plenty of time to find your way back to where you came."
The boy in the silk shirt, Tee, took a deep breath and looked back and forth between the silence of the room, the disappearing scuffle of the harbor, the wizard grinding up the plants in a bowl, and the youth stirring in their sleep. "A girl in green and a pair of twins…? Did you ask where they went, or know where they went after this?" he asked, attempting to stretch before a sudden jolt in his shoulder kept him sitting neatly in his plain cot. "I know them personally. I'm worried for their safety…"
"They're likely worrying in the hallway. Though, after I prepare some medicine, I will let them know you're conscious. I'm surprised you didn't drown, and are actually somewhat healthy. In spite of the minor head injury and your bleeding-out shoulder, wasn't nothing a little healing magic couldn't fix," the man replied, before walking towards in Tee's general direction, medicine in hand. "You know, those three from before were sighted yesterday afternoon asking your whereabouts, alongside where they could find a dog, a floating yellow ball, and a mechanical box. They found you this morning unconscious on the shore, strange trio they are. Being missing a full day and coming out alive? What a miracle."
The man set down a small wooden bowl of ground blue paste and the cup of water on a table next to the disheveled youth, whose eyes fluttered awake before they bolted up with such vitality that Tee was hesitant to accept they had just fallen into the sea. Their expression, though, said otherwise.
"Where am I? What year is it!?" their low, somewhat breathy voice croaked out, heavy breathing following as they wiped seawater and sweat from their forehead and looked around nervously. "Hey, I'm alive! That's cool! But uh, who are all these people? And where's Ringo!? I- Huh? What?"
Their observance of the area turned into frantic searching, before they stopped, looked behind them to see nothing, and smiled. Frankly, it was something of an ominous smile.
Though nothing happened and it was a little off-putting to smile at nothing, Tee felt himself shiver in place…
"Ringo… Oh, you mean the girl whose parents run the grocery store. I've seen her, once or twice, but she isn't here. You'll have to look elsewhere" the man replied, a warm smile at the upturn of his lips. "My name is Rozatte. I'm a medical professional–at least, enough to run this sickhouse. You're here because you fell into the ocean from, well, somewhere, and the sailors out there fished you up. And you are?" He picked up the bowl of ground paste and handed it to them, the latter of which took in their hands without bothering to look at it.
"I'm Ecolo! Nice to meet you, Rozatte!" they chirped, licking every bit of blue grass medicine in the bowl without hesitation before gagging and gasping for air. "I- PBBBBFFTFTFFTTTTTT– Wow, this is really bitter!! What is this!? I mean, I get that medicine is real bitter, but EUGH-" Rozatte and Tee stared in horror at the unprecedently dramatic reaction as Ecolo grabbed the cup of water, chugged it down, and hung their head, still defeated. "I need more water… Help, maybe?"
"I- My, I've never seen someone react so badly to my fever medicine aside Klug, so this is new," Rozatte commented, reaching to refill their cup. "I'll get you some more water. Ecolo, was it? Lemres mentioned you having a very strong personality once or twice; you've only been in this kingdom a few weeks now, haven't you? The day you were employed was right after the night Feli went blind, and I most distinctly remember Lemres being so distraught over it he couldn't think straight…"
His voice trailed off the farther away he got, and eventually Tee zoned out. His thoughts drifted to Ess, Jay, and Elle; he was glad they were safe and awaiting his recovery, but O, Ai, and Zed were still missing… If they were adrift at sea that would be a huge problem, because that would mean the crew would lose both the sea long and an engineer. Had Tee the energy to ask Jay and Elle to find them–if he could even convince them– he would, but his joints and energy levels said otherwise.
"Hey, hey! What's your name?" Ecolo's voice, suddenly high-pitched, called out from his right as they jumped up. "Guy with the weird bangs! You! How'd you get here? What's your name? Where are you from? You don't look familiar, but then again, nobody here does! Ahahahaha!"
Strong personality was right.
"I-I'm Tee. Captain Tee of the HMMV Tetra. I'm from Lidyn, that country on an island. I uh, regret to inform you I was shipwrecked and half our crew is potentially lost at sea," he started, taking deep breaths between phrases. "Fortunately, we currently have the resources to locate them. Unfortunately, we haven't traveled past Erian ports before. And who knows if they're even alive… One can only hope, I suppose." He shivered in place, forcing his breathing and his posture to stay steady and straight.
"Whoa, that's kinda cool! I'm Ecolo! And I got here a few weeks ago from who knows where!" they shouted happily, swinging their head back and forth. "I work at this nice place called Cafe Circe, and lots of people come to see me for no reason! Nice to meet you, Tee!"
Rozatte's footsteps became louder as he and his blue pet-thing came closer to the two. "Now, Ecolo, this is a sickhouse. It may be so that everyone is asleep, but keep your voice down. Wouldn't want to bother anyone's recovery," he pointed out, setting down the newly-filled glass of water next to them. "Tee, I'll tell your friends you've awakened; they, too, should keep their voices down." The wizard doctor walked towards the room's exit behind Ecolo, as the latter loudly sipped his water and breathed out a sigh.
The room felt darker as Rozatte left to turn the corner into the hallway. Tee could feel cold shadows crawling along the thin fabric covering his arms; to the cot on Ecolo's other side, he saw flat shadows giving a more solid form, meshing and building a specific shape, and disappearing just as fast to reveal a redheaded, pigtailed girl, like how a curtain unveils a work of art.
"Wh- Huh- Huh? What'd you do!?" Tee exclaimed suddenly, prompting the attention of the servant before him. "She- That girl, she just appeared! Did you do something? Your shadow moved-"
"What did I do!? You've been staring at me for a while, what's going on?" Their confused expression quickly switched to surprise as they turned around to see the girl, and then happiness. "Oh! Ringo, my darling! Kinda, we're friends but I like to give her pet names. Anyway, how'd she get here? I'm glad she's safe, and next to me at that… hehehe."
So Ecolo didn't know either. Tee disregarded the idea further; in spite of the chills that ran down his spine, perhaps this was a normal occurrence in Eria, shadows teleporting people places.
"Tee! Oh, thank the Six! I- you're alive?! I'm glad!- but also, how DARE YOU?"
The shrill pitch of a teenage girl burst into the room and resonated, stirring others nearby in their sleep, and a green-haired, petite girl stomped over to the boy in his tight, black silk shirt. "You're such a dummy, Tee! You'd leave us to all get on an emergency boat towards the nearest landmass, and stay on your tattered, breaking ship!? How are you alive? I've been worrying for days!" she ranted, and Tee could sense the obvious irritation in Ecolo's narrowed blue eyes beside him.
"I tried to make sure everyone was alive and well," Tee protested. "Although… any news on Zed, Ai, and O? Seeing as you and the twins are well, I'm mainly worried for the others' safety…"
Ess nodded frantically, and got closer to Tee—in his personal space, which was slightly annoying—with hands on her hips. "We did! We found them! Or Jay and Elle did," she exclaimed, piquing a surprised "what?" from Tee. "We don't know if they're alive though, because they haven't moved positions, and we don't know anything about this city at all! Therefore, as the extra-cute, super duper reliable, actually useful navigator of the HMMV Tetra, I will personally see a map of this city made through!" She posed proudly, smug smirk on her face for half a second.
A cold sweat ran down Tee's neck—was it Ess's loud voice screaming into his ears, or the status of half his crew?—and he forced a smile. "That's really great to hear. Thanks, Ess," he replied, chuckling before a sigh. "I just hope that they're alright. I'm currently not allowed to leave the sickhouse, according to Rozatte."
Ess pouted, and hmph-ed disdainfully. "Useless captain, as per usual," she muttered, turning her back on him. "Well, if you can't do anything, fine! I will! We don't have time to wait for you, so I'll look for them myself with the twins!" She strutted away arrogantly, not even bothering to turn towards him, and Tee breathed out a sigh. Ecolo looked at him worriedly, giggling nervously.
Something moved from Tee's side, and he turned his head to look for the source until Ecolo's sing-song voice broke the somewhat-silence again. "Teehee! Rise and shine, Ringoooo! You recovered quickly, didn't you?"
The girl named Ringo stirred, and her eyes opened slowly. "Where… where am I?" she croaked out, sighing deeply. "I, we, we fell into the ocean, didn't we?"
Ecolo nodded happily. "We sure did! But I said I'd keep you safe, didn't I?" they commented, holding the ends of a long, white dress. "Dry and clean as they come! It's almost like you never fell into the ocean! Pretty neat, right? I'm a magician, hehehe!" Ringo barely moved, raising a hand to feel her own dry skin, and held one of the white sheets under her.
"What happened to Amitie and Arle?"
Who?
Ecolo tilted their head, lost in thought, and perked up. "Oh! Funny-Hat Girl and Ginger Lockpicking Wacko! Yeah, I really don't know what happened to them, but I know someone who miiiiight!" they sang, turning to Tee with a wide smile that made him flinch. "Tee, you've been here longer than I have. You wouldn't have happened to see a tiny girl with fluffy blonde hair and a taller one in orange, with a yellow pet thingy?"
"Huh!? That was sudden… No, unfortunately, I haven't."
Ringo jumped up suddenly, and inhaled, wide-eyed. "Actually, where ARE we? What kind of medical expert is Rozatte anyway!?" she cried, rubbing her head possibly to jog some kind of memory. "Arle and Amitie… they must have come through here, right?"
"I don't know. According to him, this is where all maritime accidents are treated. Like if someone falls into the sea, or an accident happens at harbor, all those people get sent here, like me."
"So you're sure you didn't see two girls here?"
"I'm certain. If you're looking for them, it likely means they survived, or were too far away for someone to see them and didn't."
The way Tee said it was cold. Ringo could only hope for the best; those two were incredible mages, but given that Amitie had cast both Fairy Fair and Accelerate, the second possibility wasn't unlikely.
Ringo giggled to herself, unsure if she was in denial or losing her mind.