Hey, look! Another chapter! Wait, isn't that the exact same thing that I said last chapter? Oh, well. So, yeah, it has been just over five months since the last chapter. I'm really sorry for how long this chapter took to write, especially with the evil cliffhanger that I left the last chapter on. Thank you for not tracking me down and killing me because of that. In my defense, this chapter took a long time to write because it's so freaking long. It's even longer than the previous chapter. I realize that I've said that for the last three chapters. Hopefully, this isn't a trend that continues much longer, because I don't want the final chapters to be the length of novels.
That being said, the reason that this chapter is so long is that a lot of loose ends are cleared up in it. Why? Because this is a very special chapter in the story. What is it? It's the finale of Act One! While I knew this day would come, I never expected this day to actually come. In honor of this moment, I'm going to do some special stuff after the chapter in addition to the regular business that happens down there.
Anyway, I've probably made you guys wait long enough to find out what Jessica's fate is. The chapter starts right below, just after the disclaimer and the review responses. I sincerely hope that you like this one.
Disclaimer
Dragon Quest IX is property of Square Enix and Nintendo and not me and probably not you.
What I do own are the characters that I make up, such as Michael, Jessica, and Allison, and some of the crazy things that happen to them.
Reviews:
Alzion: I'm glad that you found the last chapter so intense and the ending so amazing. Will Jessica live? I cannot say. It is now completely out of my hands.
Master of Red Windex: I had to type cough 324 times in that chapter. That's about 4% of the entire chapter, if you were wondering. Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V were my best friends at the time.
Uchiha Orion: That cliffhanger was fairly cruel, wasn't it. I'm glad that you love what I've done so far. Look forward no more, for here is the next chapter!
Guest: A Thief or a Ranger may or may not appear at some point in the future. I can't say how they may or may not appear, but they may or may not appear nonetheless.
Act 1 – Part 10: Painful Feelings
(Allison's POV)
"Jessica! Jessica, wake up! Please, Jessica!" I cried, causing my glasses to fog up. I was pouring as much healing magic into her motionless body as I could, but to little avail. The only solace I had was knowing that something in her body was still alive enough to be healed: If Jessica was fully dead, her corpse would reject my magic.
Behind me, Michael kept the Ragin' Contagion occupied, greatly aided by the fact that Jessica had superheated his sword with her last fireball as she went down. Hopefully, Michael will be able to buy Dr. Phlegming enough time to quickly finish fixing the jar. I don't know how much longer we can last. We already lost Jessica, and Michael can only do so much for so long; although, he has done surprisingly well so far.
Another bloodcurdling shriek come from contagion, a sound that I had grown numb to at this point. I turned around to see Michael slash all three of its eyes at once, causing it to recoil back in pain while trying to rub the pain out of its eyes. "Y'all won't never stop my ragin'…Ragin', ragin'…ragin'!" the contagion declared, blinking away the pain before focusing back onto Michael. "Yeehaw…I'm a ragin'…contagion…"
"I've done it!" Dr. Phlegming suddenly announced, catching the attention of every conscious being in the room. "It's fixed! And not a moment too soon." I'd have to agree with him on that. Waving his hands in a ritualistic manner, Dr. Phlegming recited some kind of sealing spell. "Now, sacred jar, seal away this evil beast!"
"Aw, shoot!" the Ragin' Contagion groaned as a vortex of dark energy came out of the jar, surrounding him and pulling him towards the jar. "Not the gosh-durned pot again!" As the Ragin' Contagion fought to escape the grasp of the seal, the accursed fog that he had generated also began to spiral into the jar. I watched as huge clouds of the noxious vapor began flowing in from the corridors outside the chamber, pulled in by the power of the sealing spell.
While observing the surrounding chaos, I began to notice an uncomfortable pressure building in my chest. It quickly moved up my body, crawled up my throat, and-
(cough COUGH) *HACK* wheeze…
All at once, the built-up pressure burst out of my throat in a vicious coughing fit and I observed a small purple cloud flow out of my mouth. As I caught my breath and readjusted my glasses, I realized that the contagion had literally been sucked out of my body. I was cured.
Once the full magnitude of this realization hit me, I quickly turned back towards Jessica to see if anything was happening to her. As evidenced by the fact that Jessica's chest was starting to swell outwards, it seemed that pressure was also starting to build up inside of her. However, as I looked at her more closely, I realized that the pressure was trying to flow downwards towards her feet in the direction of the jar. Without fully thinking, I positioned myself over my best friend and positioned my hands on her torso so that I could push the pressure back upwards. Taking a deep breath and blocking out the rest of the excitement in the room, I slowly began applying pressure on Jessica's body, hoping for the best.
(Jessica's POV)
…
…
…
…Ow. This kind of hurts. It feels like I'm about to explode.
…Oh. That must mean I'm not dead yet. That's good.
…Unless I explode. Then I'll probably die.
…Huh. The feeling is going away. No, wait. It's just moving.
…How can I even tell? I can't even feel my own body.
…Oh, wait. There it is. It's the thing that hurts.
…Hey! Am I coughing? Why am I coughing?
…Huh. The pain is gone now. Cool.
…Wait. The darkness is starting to fade. I think I can-
"Jessica! Jessica, are you okay?" A voice I recognized suddenly tore through the darkness, and my eyes shot open, eager to see light again. Instead, I was greeted with Allison's face.
For a brief second we remained still, staring into each other's eyes through her filthy glasses, before I finally felt the need to say something. "Uh…Allison?"
"Yes?"
"Could you please move your hands?"
Confused, Allison looked down at her hands, and then her face immediately became flushed with a marvelous shade of red. "Oh my Almighty! I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized, removing her hands and getting off of me altogether.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it," I assured her as I sat up on the floor. I barely had a chance stretch out my limbs, however, before I was suddenly caught in a suffocating hug from Allison, who was being uncharacteristically touchy-feely today.
"I was so worried about you," she cried. "I thought that I had already lost you. I must be a horrible priest and a horrible friend."
"Allison…" I struggled to respond. "I can't…brea-"
"Noooooooooo!" someone suddenly shrieked loudly, startling Allison enough for me to escape from her grasp. Looking for the source of the sound, I realized that we were still in the middle of the battle against the Ragin' Contagion; although, the fight seemed to be almost over, as the contagion was being pulled into the now repaired jar. "Yer still alive!?" the contagion screamed, causing Michael and Dr. Phlegming to turn in my direction and see that, to their surprise, I wasn't dead. A smile formed on Michael's face as he looked at me until the contagion screamed again. "That's impossible! I thought I sent ya to the bone orchard. How could yer sorry hide have survived my ragin'!?" I simply shrugged in response. Next to me, I noticed that Allison let a small smirk sneak onto her face. The contagion, enraged beyond belief, let out a furious roar that shook dust from the ceiling that quickly turned into a soul-chilling shriek of unbearable anguish as he and the entirety of his curse was finally sucked back into the jar. And then all was quiet.
"Did you see that, Michael?" Dr. Phlegming exclaimed, nearly bursting from being so proud of himself. "Did you see what I did? I sealed that confounded contagion away!"
"Well, I think we all deserve credit for sealing it away," Michael corrected.
"Yes, yes, whatever," the doctor replied, brushing the issue aside and adjusting his glasses at the same time. "Ha ha!" he laughed suddenly. "Now Father-in-law will have to change his tune and show me some respect at last!"
"Don't forget that we came here to get rid of the contagion," Allison interjected.
"Of course, of course," Phlegming answered. "Well, we've done what we came to do. Now I can finally explore the ruins at my leisure. You can head off now, Michael. I'd rather not be distracted, if it's all the same to you."
"If it's all the same to you, you'd be dead if we weren't here with you," I blurted out, unable to contain myself.
"You are quite right," Dr. Phlegming responded. "And I greatly appreciate your assistance in this task. Now, I'll have a look around and see what's what. Perhaps you could report back to Coffinwell and let them know how it all went," he passively ordered as he headed down a staircase in the back of the room.
For a moment, we all just sat there, unsure of what to do next. Eventually, I decided to break the silence myself. "All things considered, I think that went pretty well."
Michael chuckled and walked back towards me. "You must not have remembered the part where you died."
"Excuse me!?" I interjected playfully. "I didn't die. I distinctly remember being not dead the entire time."
"As a professional Priest-in-training," Allison chimed in while cleaning her glasses on her robe, "I can personally certify that Jessica is not, and never has been, dead. If she had, at some point, died, then she would currently be dead."
"Is that so?" Michael questioned jokingly.
"Yes," Allison answered cheerfully. "And, as no one here or in the rest of the world is a Sage, there is zero chance that she had actually died at some point and was later resurrected."
"And I promise I'm not a zombie," I added onto the end, causing the three of us laugh for a minute.
"Anyway," Michael continued, "I suppose that we should probably head back to Coffinwell and tell everybody the good news."
"Yeah," Allison agreed. "We'll probably also have to explain why a sudden windstorm blew through the town a few minutes ago.
"Windstorm?" I asked, confused.
"We'll explain later, Jessica," Michael said. "Let's just head back to Coffinwell for now. I'm sure that it's already getting pretty late in the evening." He took a step towards the exit before stopping and turning back towards me. "Actually, are you okay to travel, Jessica?"
"Why?" I asked. "Do I look sick to you?"
"Nope. Not at all." Michael quickly answered. "Let's just go."
(Allison's POV)
"Hey, you!" a man called out to us as we reentered Coffinwell. "You're the colleagues of Dr. Phlegming, aren't you? Or should I say the Great Dr. Phlegming?"
"Uh…yeah, we are," Michael answered for us.
The man continued. "Just after you left town, the people who were ill suddenly recovered. This is the great Dr. Phlegming's work, isn't it? I had no idea he was so clever." Before we could offer any kind of response, the man walked away, apparently having finished saying what he wanted to say.
Michael turned towards the two of us. "Well, I suppose we were right. The contagion has been cured."
"Thank the Almighty," Jessica sighed with relief. "Now no one will ever have to suffer because of that horrid creature again. Hey, Allison, I guess that means that you can finally take a break, right?"
I paused for moment and thought about what she said. "Huh. I guess you're right." I couldn't remember the last time I was able to simply relax, but it actually did sound kind of nice right about now.
"Well, I suppose we should go report back to Mayor Laria first," Michael stated, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Right. Lead the way."
"Ah, I've been waiting for you to get back, Michael," the Mayor greeted us as we stepped into his library. He appeared to be in a much better mood than I had seen him in over the past few weeks. "I must admit, I'm pleasantly surprised that Phlegming managed to seal the contagion away." He looked over us, seeming to be searching for someone. "Where is the hero of the day, anyway? I thought he'd be with you."
"He chose to remain at the ruins for a little while longer, sir," Michael answered.
The mayor seemed taken aback by this. "No! He's still at the ruins? The silly fool! And there I was, starting to think he might not be so bad after all." I raised an eyebrow upon seeing how quickly the mayor's tone regarding Phlegming changed. It was rather impressive how fast the mayor managed such a mood swing. "Hmph. Never mind. When he finally does show his face, we'll hold a banquet to celebrate." This time, it looked like the mayor's emotions managed to settle on a mood somewhere in the middle. "You'll pass the news on to Catarrhina, won't you? No doubt she'll be thrilled to hear of his success."
"Yes, sir," Michael agreed before leading us back out of the mansion and towards Dr. Phlegming and Catarrhina's house to the west.
I could tell that something was wrong almost immediately as we walked into the house, and I could sense that Michael and Jessica felt similarly. The dark house was filled with a suffocating silence and a thick, heavy air that caused an instant feeling of dread to form in my stomach. In the corner of the house, besides a nightstand with the remains of candle burnt all of the way down, Catarrhina lay on her bed, still.
We quickly, yet softly, hurried over to the side of her bed. This time, however, the green-haired woman's eyes didn't suddenly pop open and scare the Almighty out of us. "C-Catarrhina?" Michael called out in an attempt to wake her. He reached down to nudge her shoulder, but as soon as his hand touched her, his face paled by a significant amount.
"Michael, what's wrong?" I asked, afraid of what his answer might be.
"She's…ice cold," is all he said.
"I-I don't think she's breathing, Michael," Jessica whispered behind me, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Looking more closely at Catarrhina's body, I could see that Jessica was right.
Michael stepped back from the bed with an expression of horror on his face. Jessica had her mouth covered with her hands, and tears were starting to stream out of her eyes. I wanted to do something to help, but part of me knew that it was too late to do anything, and I felt like throwing up because of what that meant.
Catarrhina was dead.
We stood there in a grief-filled silence, staring at the poor woman's lifeless body, unsure of what to do next. I didn't think the situation could get any worse.
"I'm home, Catarrhina!"
I was wrong. I was so very, very, wrong. Upon hearing those words, I actually threw up a little in my mouth and Jessica nearly fainted, with Michael having to catch her before she fell to the floor.
Despairing at how quickly everything was falling apart around us, I watched helplessly as Dr. Phlegming stepped into his house, oblivious as to what was inside. "I'll be off again soon, though. I'm just back to fetch a few papers to help me explore those ruins." He paused just past the entryway, beginning to notice that something was wrong. "…Catarrhina?" he called out. "You're very quiet…" He scanned the room, looking for her. He stopped once his eyes landed upon us, the expressions on our faces probably telling him everything that he needed to know. He immediately ran past the three of us to the edge of Catarrhina's bed. "What's wrong, Catarrhina? Answer me!" he begged, grabbing and shaking her body in a futile attempt to wake her up. "You're not…? No! No! Not you! The contagion can't have taken you! It doesn't make sense. I sealed it away. Everyone's better now!" He stopped shaking her body and laid it gently back onto the bed before falling onto his knees. "I was too late, wasn't I? Even as I sealed it away, you were already gone. Why? Why didn't you tell me you were ill? If I'd known, I would have worked harder, faster. Perhaps I could have saved you… Oh, Catarrhina!" he cried out, collapsing onto the bed and sobbing next to his deceased wife.
(Michael's POV)
"The people of Coffinwell have been delivered from great peril," the priest began. "But our relief is overshadowed by our sadness at the passing of our dear child, Catarrhina." We were at Catarrhina's funeral. "Her loss weighs heavily upon us all." Everyone in town was present for the service. "Nonetheless, we should be grateful to her for teaching us the true meaning of forbearance." Actually, there was one notable absence. "Those of us left behind must try to emulate her stoicism in overcoming our sadness at her death." Dr. Phlegming didn't show up. "Now, let us pray that she will ascend untroubled to the heavens and rest in peace."
"Oh Catarrhina!" cried Catarrhina's mother. "Ohhhh…"
"Shhh, dear," Catarrhina's father, Mayor Laria, comforted. "We must try to be strong. What I'd like to know is where the devil Phlegming has got to. How he could neglect to turn up is beyond me." I think we were all thinking the same thing; although, I'm sure that Dr. Phlegming had his reasons.
The service ended after a few more minutes, and the crowd slowly dispersed. Allison went over to discuss something with the priest and I was about to ask Jessica about what she thought we should do next when a familiar ball of pink light flew out of my bag. "Pah!" Stella burst out, clearly upset over something. "I doubt there'll be any benevolessence to be had now the mood here's so flapping gloomy. So much for all the guts we busted trying to save the town! We haven't even had a word of thanks, let alone a reward."
"Stella, can't you at least try to pretend to understand how everyone here is feeling right now?" I asked.
Stella rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't think we should stand for this, or take it lying down! I say we go to Mayor Laria and make him thank us properly."
"I really don't think now is the best-" I futilely tried to reason with her, but she disappeared back into my bag before I even got a chance to finish.
I sighed as Allison walked back over to us. "So, what should we do know?" she asked solemnly.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we should try to talk with the mayor."
"Yeah…" Jessica sighed. "I guess you're right. Let's just go and get it over with."
We found Mayor Laria standing outside his mansion, staring in the direction of his daughter's house. He was visibly upset and seemed to be ranting at no one in particular. "That useless Phlegming shut himself away and didn't even bother to show his face at Catarrhina's funeral. Can you really have been happy to have married such a man, my dear Catarrhina?" He turned around and noticed us approaching him. "Ah, Michael. Forgive me. I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I didn't see you there." He sighed before continuing. "How can I assist you? Ah, of course! I still haven't given you your reward. I'm afraid I'm not really in the right frame of mind at the moment. I'm sorry to trouble you, but perhaps you could pay a visit to the house this evening instead."
"It's no trouble at all," I answered understandingly.
The mayor nodded solemnly. "I'll be sure to have your reward ready for you then." Having settled the matter, he turned back to his own thoughts, and we left him in peace, returning to the inn to rest until evening to come back around.
Once the sun had finally set, we returned to the mayor's mansion, where Mayor Laria was resting. "Oh, it's you, Michael," the mayor greeted us, seemingly surprised at our presence. "What are you doing here at this hour?"
"Um…" I tried to begin to explain.
"Oh, of course, your reward for accompanying young Phlegming." Laria interrupted, remembering our conversation from earlier. "It completely slipped my mind." He reached into his desk and pulled a small strip of fabric with a feather out of it. "I hope this hairband will suffice," he said, handing it over to me.
I handed it over to Jessica and Allison, who both looked a little underwhelmed with it. "It is…appreciated, Mayor," I thanked, albeit a little disappointedly.
He nodded and we began to leave the mansion once again. I fell back a little behind the girls, however, as, unsurprisingly, Stella flew out of my bag to complain about something again. "What a flapping let-down!" she cried. "Is that it? That's all we get after bending over backwards, forwards and sideways for these people?"
"At least it's a…um…stylish piece of headwear?" I half-heartedly tried to reason.
"JESSICA NEARLY DIED!" she screamed directly in my face. "And for what? A stupid strip of fabric? If only that Catarrhina hadn't gone and kicked a bucket, everyone would be happy and there'd be benevolessence aplenty."
"Yeah," I conceded, "I think we all would have preferred if she was still alive, but, unfortunately, there isn't much that we can do about that now."
Stella shook her head. "Gah…There's got to be some way of sorting out this mess…" She sighed and disappeared back into my bag again. I hurried out of the mansion, where my two companions were waiting for me, still holding onto the headband.
"There you are, Michael," Jessica greeted when I rejoined with them. "We were wondering where you had gone."
"I…um…got lost," I proposed. From within my bag, I swear I could hear something along the lines of 'something something idiot.' Jessica smirked a little.
"That's understandable, I guess," Allison replied sarcastically. "I mean, this is only our, what, fourth time going straight up the stairs and coming straight back down? I could see how one could easily get lost."
I didn't know how to respond to that. "I…um…er…uh…yes?"
From besides Allison, Jessica began to snicker and tried to hide it with her hands. "Anyway," Jessica began, thankfully changing the subject, "we were talking while waiting, and we want you to have this." She held out her hand holding the feathered hairband.
I looked at it, confused. "Why?"
"To wear it," Allison explained dryly, rolling her eyes in exasperation.
"What!?" I yelled in shock. "Why would I wear this…thing? Why don't one of you guys wear it?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Jessica answered with a large grin on her face. "You're a Minstrel, while I'm only a Mage and Allison is nothing more than a Priest."
"I don't follow."
Allison sighed. "The rules set forth by the Sinndicate of Pubs, Inns, and Taverns state that only Minstrels are allowed to wear such outlandish pieces of equipment, as it was agreed that they are the only ones that lack the self-respect necessary to not wear them."
"I…see…And what if I don't want to wear it?"
"Oh, Michael, we're not giving you a choice," Jessica answered from behind me, having gotten there without me noticing. Before I even had a chance to react, I felt Jessica shove something down over my head. "There. See? It even fits you perfectly, Michael."
"I hate you," is all that I said in response to that.
"Now, there's no need to be rude, Michael," Jessica returned calmly, coming back around to the front of me. Both of them just stared at me for a few moments, with a bit of my dignity dying with every passing second. "Hm…What do you think, Allison?" Jessica asked. "I think it kind of looks cute on him." I physically felt part of myself die upon hearing those words. I think it may have been my spleen.
Allison nodded in agreement. "It does contrast nicely with his hair color," she added. I felt about ready to dive into one of the pools in the Doomingale Forest.
Having finally had enough, I reached up to remove the stupid hairband. "Nuh-uh, Michael," Jessica scolded. "No taking it off."
"Why not?" I asked, annoyed.
"Because, if you do, I'll use a random spell on you," she threatened, "and Allison promised to not heal you for a full day after that."
I slowly lowered my arm, gravely terrified of the two women in front of me. "Y-you know," I stuttered, "it actually isn't that…bad."
Allison softly giggled at my reaction. "We're glad you had a change of heart. Don't you agree, Jessica? …Jessica?"
Jessica, who had looked away for a second, turned back towards us. "What? Oh, sorry! I thought I had seen something over in the cemetery."
"In the cemetery, huh?" Allison questioned. "Do you think you saw a ghost?"
"Maybe."
I slid to the right a little bit so that I could look around the two towards the cemetery and, sure enough, there was a ghost standing near the church. "I think I can see it, too."
Allison turned towards me, and raised an eyebrow. "You think you can see…what exactly?" she asked. My eyes widened as I realized what I had just said.
"What?" I answered, trying to play dumb.
Allison, of course, was far too smart to fall for that. "You just said that you think that you see a ghost."
"D-did I say that?"
"Yes. So, tell me, can you see ghosts?"
"Uh…" From behind Allison, I could see that Jessica was observing the exchange between us, seemingly interested in what I would say. "…Yes."
"Huh. Cool," Allison responded. "So you have the same ability as Jessica, huh?"
"…Sure," I answered. "You could say that."
She nodded, satisfied, and turned back to her original position. I quietly let out a sigh of relief, which I quickly inhaled back in when Allison turned towards me again. "Why?"
"Why what?" I asked, confused.
"Why can you see ghosts?" she clarified.
"Because I'm a- I mean, I don't know," I answered, catching myself before I gave away too much of the truth while also hoping that Allison also didn't catch it.
Unfortunately, Allison was again too smart to let it pass. "You're a what?" she interrogated.
"Uh…"
Jessica, who could tell that I was in trouble, quickly tried to change the subject. "Hey!" she called out. "I think that the ghost might be Catarrhina. C'mon! Let's go see if it is." Jessica started running towards the stairs, probably hoping that Allison would follow her. Once again, this didn't fool Allison, who grabbed Jessica as she was running past, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. "Ow…" Jessica whined, rubbing her backside.
"I know you're both hiding something from me; and, honestly, I'm sick and tired of being left in the dark about this," Allison explained. "Therefore, nobody is going anywhere until you finally tell me what is really going on here."
Jessica and I looked at each other for a second before she shrugged. I sighed. "Fine…" I finally conceded. "I'll tell you, Allison, but you may want to sit down first. It's a long story that, if it were to be written down, it would take almost 11 cha-"
"Oh, for the love of the Almighty!" Jessica interrupted before I could even begin. "Not this again. We don't have time for this! Alright, Allison, pay attention. Michael is a Celestrian who fell to our world because of the earthquake a few weeks ago. Now, he's trying to get back to his home; but, in order to do that, he needs to earn enough happiness from us mortals. So, that brings us to today, where, with my help, he's traveling around, trying to help as many people as possible." She took a deep breath and turned toward me. "See, Michael? Three sentences! It does not take almost 11 chapters. It doesn't even require its own paragraph."
I just stared at Jessica, completely dumbfounded for a number of reasons. Similarly, Allison appeared completely awe-struck. "Wait, so you're saying that…Michael…is a Celestrian?"
"Yes," Jessica answered.
"Like, 'Guardian statue' Celestrian?" she asked again.
"Yeah," I admitted. "As a matter of fact, I'm the Guardian of Angel Falls."
"Oh. My. Almighty," Allison whispered, looking like she was about to cry.
"Allison?" I asked. "Are you okay?"
She nodded her head. "C-can I h-hug you?"
I was taken aback by her request. "Wh-Ack!" She clearly didn't care what I had to say, as she ran up and threw her arms around me before I even got a chance to say anything.
"I knew you guys were real!" she cried. "I knew it! I just knew it!"
"Yup, we're real," I choked out. "I am a 100 percent real Celestrian, and you're currently choking me to death."
"Oops, sorry," the young priestess apologized, letting me go and taking a step back, wiping the tears out from behind her glasses. "I just can't believe that not only are you a real Celestrian, but a guardian, too. It's just so incredible."
"Yeah, it is pretty incredible," Jessica agreed. "But I really think we should go to the cemetery now. I wasn't joking when I said that I thought it might be Catarrhina."
Allison took a few deep breaths in an attempt to regain her composure. "Okay. Let's g-Actually, hang on. There's one more thing." Jessica quickly face-palmed, spun around, and begrudgingly urged Allison to continue. "Um…Michael? Do you know why Jessica can see the things that she does?"
I was actually impressed by how valid of a question that was. Even Jessica seemed interested in hearing my answer. Unfortunately… "No. I have no idea how she gained that ability. Maybe someone, somewhere, does, but that person is, unfortunately, not me."
Allison nodded understandingly. "Alright. Actually, there is just one more thing." From behind Allison, I could hear Jessica's teeth grinding in an attempt to contain her apparent anger. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "This is the last thing, I swear. I just wanted to know if it was possible for me to gain the same ability that you two do."
I was about to answer with a resounding 'No' when Stella burst out of my bag, practically on fire from anger. "OKAY!" she screamed. "That's it! I am sick and flapping tired of all of these Almighty-damned questions."
"Stella, calm down!"
"Who's Stella?" Allison asked, confused.
"No! I won't calm down!" Stella roared. "It's pretty obvious that we're not going to get anything done this flapping CENTURY until we finally answer every flapping question this girl has! Therefore, I've made the executive decision that, instead of giving her all of the flapping answers, it'd just be easier if we just flapping show her everything!"
"Stella, what are you talking about?"
"Jessica, what is Michael talking about? Who's Stella?"
"I honestly don't think I can explain what's going on."
"Just watch, Michael! I'm about to solve all of our flapping problems!" And, before I knew what was happening, Stella flew over to Allison and slapped her has hard as she could across her face.
"Ow!" Allison cried out. "What was- Oh my Almighty! What are you!?"
Mine and Jessica's jaws simultaneously dropped at Allison's words. "Stella?" I asked, confused. "What did you do? Can Allison see you now?"
"Yes," she answered. "Mortals normally can't see supernatural creatures like ghosts, Celestrians, faeries, soul spirits, and the like. However, if we really make an effort to make our presence known to mortals – by hitting them, for example – then their mind may adapt and gain the ability to see us while trying to fill in the blanks."
"But, who, and what, are you?" Allison asked again.
Stella spin around back towards Allison. "No. Shut up. No more flapping questions. If you really need to know, I'm Stella the faerie, stewardess of the Starflight Express and Michael's traveling partner. Now, please, no more questions. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually agree with the walking tomato over there that we should go to the cemetery and talk to that ghost. Right. Now."
"Walking tomato?" Jessica repeated quietly, unsure of how to take that.
"Are we on the same page here?" Stella asked. Allison nodded quietly in response. "Good. I'm glad we were able to reach an understanding."
"Actually, Stella," I began, "there is one more thing that I'm still confused about."
"What, Michael?"
"I slapped Ivor at one point while I was still a full Celestrian. Why isn't he able to see all of the stuff that you said."
"That boy is an idiot," Stella answered. "He is so close-minded, I could crash the Starflight Express straight onto his head, and he still probably wouldn't be able to see anything." She paused for a second, and something seemed to have occurred to her. "Now, babies, on the other hand, they're extremely open-minded. They're practically a blank slate. In fact, I bet that's probably how Jessica got her ability."
"Wait, what? What's how I got my ability?" Jessica asked, eyes open wide.
"I mean that, at some point while you were a baby, you probably came into close contact with a ghost or something, which forced your brain to adapt to them early, explaining why you've always been able to see them."
"Oh," is all Jessica said in response, struggling to comprehend the significance of what she had just heard.
"Now, is there anything else that anyone needs to ask someone else, or can we finally go to cemetery?" Stella asked the group. "No one? Great! LET'S GO!" she ordered, flying back into my bag in a huff.
"Alright then," I said, relieved that that whole ordeal was over. "I think we should probably head over to the cemetery now, huh?"
Allison nodded again, sheepishly looked around, and then whispered one last question. "Um…is she always that rude?"
"Yes," Jessica and I answered in unison.
"Oh, wow…A real ghost!"
"Allison, please calm down," Jessica pleaded. "It's really not that great. Besides, it's kind of rude to remind people that they're…dead"
"Right, sorry," Allison apologized, rubbing the back of her head. "Anyway, it looks like you were right. It is the ghost of Catarrhina."
"Great," I interrupted. "Then let's go talk to her and see if we can help her somehow." The two girls nodded and followed behind me as I walked up to Catarrhina's ghost, who was currently staring down at her own grave. I cleared my throat to get her attention. "Excuse me, Catarrhina?"
"Oops!" she predictably exclaimed. "I'm sorry. I appear to be dead." She turned around to look at the three of us. "Wait a minute! You can see me!?" We all nodded in confirmation. "That's amazing! I sensed you were different, Michael, but I never would have guessed you were one of them."
"Ah," I responded. "So you know that I'm a…"
She glanced at the nearby guardian statue. "Yup! I mean, it's kinda obvious at the moment, wouldn't you say?" She lifted her gaze a bit to look behind me and smiled softly. "I never would've guessed that you two would be able to see me, too. But, I suppose that makes you two extra special, huh?" She lowered her gaze back down to me. "Anyway, what a stroke of luck! That means you'll probably be able to help me out."
"Of course," I replied. "What do you need?"
"You see, I need to try and jolly Phlegmy up a bit. He's in a terrible way at the moment, and I don't see him getting better by himself. You can help, can't you?"
"Absolutely," I answered.
"Thank you, thank you!" she cheered. "I suppose the first thing is to get him to come out of his laboratory. I'm sure I'll be able to figure out a way of doing that, so you just head down there and we'll take it from there."
"Alright," I said. "We'll see you down there." She gave a large, warming smile before turning back around towards her grave. I turned to face Jessica and Allison. "So, I guess we're heading to Phlegming's lab next."
"Yeah…" Allison answered, visibly shaken.
"Allison, are you okay," I asked.
"Yeah…It's just a little upsetting, seeing Catarrhina like that. Dead."
I nodded in understanding. "Working with ghosts trapped in this world can be emotionally difficult at first. Even I get a little upset at times when I see them. However, it helps to remember that, when we help them solve their problems, we also help them escape from this world and into the afterlife. And there is nothing more amazing to watch than a trapped ghost finally break free from this world."
"Really?" Allison asked in awe.
"Yup. And, if we work quickly, we may be able to see such an event tonight."
"Awesome!" she responded eagerly. "Well, we better hurry up and get to Phlegming's lab, then. C'mon! Let's go."
The door to Phlegming's lab was locked from the inside and couldn't be opened when I tried. I wasn't really expecting it to be open or anything, but I thought it was worth a shot.
"You won't have any luck like that, Michael," Catarrhina explained, suddenly appearing besides us in the alleyway. "Phlegmy will only come out if you use our secret knock. Here, do it just like this." She walked over to the door and demonstrated the secret knock. "See? Just like that. Now you try." I stepped back towards the door and, holding my breath, knocked on the door in the way that Catarrhina described.
For a moment, there was silence as we all waited for a response. And then… "…Catarrhina? Catarrhina, is that you?" we heard someone, presumably Dr. Phlegming, call out from inside. From inside, we could hear what sounded like a pile of book falling over and someone grunting in pain before the door flung open and Dr. Phlegming burst out of the lab, knocking me back into Jessica and Allison's arms. Phlegming looked around the alleyway furiously before focusing onto the three of us. "Was that…? Was that you knocking like that, Michael?" he asked, suddenly much more crestfallen than before. It was heartbreaking, watching the doctor, who was just so full of hope and excitement at the thought of the miraculous return of his wife, come to the sad realization that it was only a trick. Honestly, I felt terrible for bothering him, and I think the two girls felt the same way.
"Y-yes," I answered regretfully.
"Of all the tasteless jokes," he scolded, pulling his hair and stomping the ground in frustration, "mimicking Catarrhina's special knock like that! Don't you dare ever do that again!" He turned around, about to storm back into his lab, when another villager suddenly called out to him from the plaza above us.
"Oi, Phelgmin'!" he called out. "Glad I caught ya. I've got a message for ya, as it 'appens." Dr. Phlegming stopped midstride and turned to face the man addressing him, intrigued by what the message could be. "Thanks for gettin' rid of that 'orrible disease. Everyone in Coffinwell says thanks, an' all. We owe ya big time! Oh yeah, an' we're all 'opin' you'll be back to normal soon. Everyone's worried sick about ya." Having successfully given his message, the villager turned and walked away, leaving everyone's view.
"What in the name of-?" Dr. Phlegming asked, unsure of what to make of the message.
Coming up with a new idea, Catarrhina quickly turned to ask me something. "Michael, I'd like you to pass on a final message for me. Can you tell him that I want him to meet with the people he saved by sealing away the contagion?" I nodded gently, which went unnoticed by Phlegming, who was still preoccupied with the message.
"Excuse me, Dr. Phlegming," I called out, getting the man's attention. "Catarrhina wanted us to tell you that she wanted you to go meet all of the people that you saved from the contagion."
He just stared at me, even more confused than before. "Catarrhina said that?" he asked. "But I wouldn't know where to start. I don't even know who was ill. All I was worried about was trying to get the better of Father-in-law…" For a whole minute, we just stood there in complete silence while the doctor was thinking. "…Michael," he finally said, "I'd like you to take me to see the people who were ill. I know the moment has somewhat passed, but I'd like to know who suffered from the disease and how they felt. Then perhaps I'll be able to understand what it was like for my Catarrhina."
Catarrhina turned towards me again with another request in mind. "Please agree to what he asks, Michael. I think this is just what he needs."
I nodded so that both Catarrhina and Dr. Phlegming could see. "Okay. If that's what you want, then I'd be happy to help."
"Great," the doctor exclaimed. "Lead the way, and I'll follow right behind you the entire time."
The first place we visited on our trip around the city was the church. Inside, the elder priestess stood near a window, staring up into the night sky. She turned to face us as we flied in through the doorway, and a wide smile spread across her face when she saw that it was us. "Oh! It's so good to see you three again, and on much better terms for the four of us this time around." Behind us, a throat could be heard being cleared quietly, and the priestess looked for the source of the sound. "Goodness!" she exclaimed when she found it. "What a pleasure it is to see you out and about again, Dr. Phlegming! Erm, please accept my deepest sympathies about Catarrhina, won't you? I know your pain is much deeper, but the people of Coffinwell are grieving for her too. She was much-loved."
He slightly smiled at her words. "Of course. Everyone loved dear Catarrhina," he said, his voice becoming quieter as he spoke, until it faded into complete silence, at which point he simply turned around and stepped outside.
"Poor Dr. Phlegming is still suffering terribly with his grief," the elder priestess remarked. "I'm afraid that there's not much that I can do to help him."
"You don't need to worry about it, ma'am," Allison reassured. "You've already helped him more than you know."
The priestess smiled softly at that. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, you three should probably hurry off after the doctor and make sure he's okay." We nodded and quickly followed her advice.
Outside, we found Phlegming walking towards us from the direction of the graveyard. "Are you okay?" Allison asked.
"Yes, of course," he answered calmly. "Please, let us continue."
Our second stop of the night happened by accident, as we were crossing the lower street. "Oh!" a large man walking nearby suddenly called out. "Is that you there, Dr. Phlegming?"
"Er, I, er…" the doctor stuttered. "Yes, it is. Good day to you."
The man nodded with an apologetic expression on his face. "I'm so sorry for your loss. Catarrhina was such a lovely young woman. I expect you're on your way to visit her grave, are you?"
Phlegming was silent for a moment before answering. "…I was just there, actually."
"Ah. Well, I'll wish you all a good night then." He bid us all a quick farewell before resuming his walk.
Following Allison's guidance, we were quickly able to reach our third stop of the evening. I gently knocked on the door of the southernmost house in the city, and it was quickly opened by a middle-aged man with a beard. He looked at the four of us for a second before he dashed over to Dr. Phlegming and started ferociously shaking the startled man's hand. "Well, if it isn't Dr. Phlegming!" he exclaimed. "I owe you my deepest thanks, my man. None of us were ill, but I was petrified the whole time that my son or even my wife might come down with it."
Wait. They weren't even ill? Then why…? I quickly turned to Allison, and she silently mouthed the word "oops" while nervously readjusting her glasses. I rolled my eyes and turned back towards the other men.
The bearded man, who seemed to have paused for a moment, continued talking. "…! I…I'm so sorry. What a stupid thing to say. I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry…" He quickly let go of the doctor's hand, apologized one more time, and wished us all a good night before heading back into his house.
Once again following Allison's guidance, although a lot more carefully this time, we quickly went to the house next door to the previous, something that Jessica found a lot more amusing that Allison did. There, we were greeted by a younger man who seemed just as excited to see Phlegming as the previous guy. "Dr. Phlegming! I'm so grateful to you for saving my wife and daughter."
Dr. Phlegming seemed taken aback by the man's words. "Your wife…and your daughter?" he repeated. "They were both ill?"
"Oh yes, I had many a sleepless night, I can tell you," the man explained. "I honestly thought I might lose them both." The man looked like he was about to cry. "I owe you everything, and that's a fact."
Dr. Phlegming was practically speechless. "…"
"Here, please come inside," the man said, gesturing inwards. "I would like my daughter to meet the man who saved her life." Greatly humbled, Phlegming stepped inside with us in tow. "Her room is straight up the stairs. She may be sleeping already, in which case, don't feel obligated to wake her up just so she can meet you." The doctor nodded in understanding, and we headed up to the girl's room.
At the top of the stairs, we found that the young girl was indeed sleeping soundly in her bed. "Zzzz… Zzzz…" she snored.
Dr. Phlegming carefully walked to the side of the child's bed. "A child this small was suffering from the disease?" he asked. "How can I not have realized who was affected?"
Catarrhina's ghost suddenly materialized next to him. "Don't feel bad, Phlegmy," she comforted. "If it wasn't for you, they'd all be gone." I repeated what she said to her husband, albeit a little bit less affectionately. He just stood there in silence for a minute before turning and heading back downstairs.
Our fifth encounter happened quickly outside of the Mayor's mansion, where the man who called out to the doctor earlier was walking around. "Phlegmin'! You saved us all, mate! You should be proud of yerself!"
"No, really, I, er… It was nothing," the doctor struggled to say.
"Nah, mate," the man rebuked. "You should be chuffed! I'll bet Catarrhina's good an' proud o' ya, wherever she's lookin' down from." The man, once again satisfied that he got his point across, wished us a good night and walked back down the way that we originally came.
Walking along the west side of town, we were suddenly stopped by a dog who ran right up to Phlegming, barking at him. "Grrr… Woof! Woof! Woof!"
"Stop it!" the doctor ordered. "Stop it, please! I'm afraid I'm not very good with dogs!" Jessica simply scoffed and knelt beside the dog, rubbing him behind the ears until he started rolling around playfully. After a minute or two, the dog stopped rolling, licked Jessica on the face, and ran back to where he came from. Jessica stood back up with a fairly satisfied look on her face.
Our sixth stop brought us to the westernmost house in town, where Allison said that she had treated an old man who had the contagion. As there were no other houses around this time, we were willing to believe her this time. Allison knocked on the door, and an elderly woman greeted us. "Oh, it's you Allison!" she exclaimed. "You must be here to see my stupid husband. Well, you may as well come in."
We stepped through the doorway, a little confused with the woman's words. She showed us into the bedroom, where her husband was lying on his bed. "Ahem. Ahem. (cough)" he coughed. "Ugh, I feel like death…"
A panicked expression quickly appeared on Phlegming's face as he run up to his bed. "This can't be right! The contagion has been sealed away. How can he still be ill?"
Catarrhina suddenly reappeared with us. "It's alright, the old man just has a cold!" she explained. "Tell him, won't you, Michael?"
"Ah… Yes, I see," Dr. Phlegming responded after I set him straight. "Well, that's a relief."
Back in the kitchen, I could hear the old woman explaining what had happened to Allison. "The silly old fool started to feel better, so he slept with no covers on. It's no wonder he's gone and caught another cold."
Our final stop for the evening was in the inn in the center of town. Allison managed to direct us to a room that she said was shared by an old traveling merchant and a strange young girl. We got a chance to see how strange she really was when she opened the door while dressed in a…bunny costume? "Ooh!" she called out. "You're Dr. Phlegming, aren't you? The one who got rid of that nasty disease?"
"Er, yes, that's right," he answered, taken a bit aback from her odd outfit. "Were you suffering from it too?" he asked.
"Thanks ever so much," she answered, completely ignoring the question. "I was this far away from having to kiss my Snugglelump goodbye for good." From behind me, I'm pretty sure I heard someone gag a little. "Now I have all the time for kissing in the world thanks to you." The sound of the door to the inn slamming shut briefly caught my attention, and I looked to see that Jessica had left. "Would you like a little smooch to say thank you?" the bunny girl offered, taking a seductive step towards the doctor.
"Er, n-no thank you!" he declined, taking a step in retreat back down the hallway. "That really won't be necessary."
Once again, Catarrhina appeared, this time looking quite angry. "Good grief!" she yelled. "What does she think she's doing? Stay away from my Phlegmy with your funny outfit and your strange suggestions!"
We unanimously decided to leave the inn as fast as we could, and headed back outside. "I think I've seen enough now," Dr. Phlegming suddenly said. "Let's go back to my laboratory."
Before I could even acknowledge his statement, Jessica suddenly rejoined the group with a determined look on her face. "Wait!" she ordered. "There's still someone that hasn't gotten a chance to thank you yet."
"Who?" the doctor asked, confused.
"Well, um, me," she answered nervously, taking us all a little bit by surprise. "I mean, in the ruins, I was literally lying dead on the floor, but you still somehow managed to save my life." She took a deep breath and bowed her head a little. "I just wanted to say…thank you."
"I-I don't-" Phlegming tried to begin.
"Actually, I want to thank you, too," Allison suddenly interjected. "I had caught the contagion while in the ruins and if you didn't seal it away when you did, I would probably be almost dead by now, too."
"I-I don't…You two…" Dr. Phlegming sputtered. "You all risked your lives to protect me… I should be the one thanking you."
"We were only doing our job," I responded. "But you, you saved the life of every single person in this town today. I can't think of a greater deed done by anyone in this world."
The doctor seemed genuinely touched. "Your-your words. I-I…" He turned away from the three of us and stood silent for a few minutes. "I-I think we should head back to my lab," he finally said, heading up the western stairs. No one said a word until we were back in his lab, where he turned around to address us, his eyes noticeably redder than earlier. "I must thank you," he began. "You've enabled me to see what it was Catarrhina wanted me to understand. Everything I've done has always been for myself, and I haven't given much thought to the people around me. That's why I didn't notice Catarrhina was ill. Unforgivable, I know… Walking around town today, I realized for the first time how many people there are around me. From now on, I'm going to try to be more of a part of the community." He turned back away from us and bowed his head. "And I must admit that it was rather nice to be the object of so much gratitude." He sighed and turned to his desk, sitting down and starting to write.
We began to make our way out of his lab, but we found Catarrhina waiting for us by the door. "Thank you for helping Phlegmy come to his senses," she said. "You've allowed me to fulfill my dream, even though I'm no longer alive." She turned to look at her husband with the same loving stare that she had while alive. "You see, it's always been my dream for the people of Coffinwell to realize how wonderful Phlegmy is. And for him to grow to love the place. That's exactly what I've always wanted." She turned back towards us, and suddenly started glowing with a bright green light. "Aah, it looks like I've run out of time," she observed, looking over herself as she started rising off the ground. "It's time to say goodbye to you three. Jessica. Allison. Michael. I wish you all well on your adventures together, no matter what happens…" She turned to look at her love one last time. I noticed a single tear roll down her cheek before she was completely enveloped in a blinding light. When the light vanished, we were all alone in the lab, except for Dr. Phlegming, who didn't notice a thing.
Noticeably affected by Catarrhina's ascension, we silently exited Phlegming's lab and somberly made our way to the inn, hoping to get some rest in the hour or two left until sunrise.
(Jessica's POV)
"Is it morning already?" I asked groggily, using my hands to shield the sunlight filtering in through the curtains. "It feels like I just lay down."
"Yeah…" Michael sighed from across the room, already getting dressed. "Yesterday lasted a lot longer than I expected."
I yawned dramatically in response. "Well, I suppose I should get up so we can go and do…whatever it is we're doing today." I turned to get out of bed and stretched. My body was still a little sore from its near-death experience from a few days ago. "…We should probably make sure that Allison is awake, too," I continued, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"Mm-kay," Michael mumbled before falling back onto his bed, drained from the effort of getting dressed.
"Does this mean that I can sleep in for a few more minutes?"
"Good morning!" the innkeeper greeted us. "…Or should I say good afternoon?"
"What?" Michael suddenly snapped, clearly disturbed by what she had just said.
"I said 'Good afternoon,'" she repeated. I couldn't help but giggle a little at the expression that appeared on Michael's face as he realized that we had slept straight through the entire morning. "And what a lovely afternoon it is too! Everyone's spirits seem to have suddenly lifted again. Anyway, I'm going to assume that all three of you had a restful sleep. Do come again!"
Michael turned towards us, his face still carrying the same expression as before. "We slept in all morning…?" he asked, apparently horrified by this fact.
Allison shrugged. "I mean, technically, that's still only about six or seven hours of sleep."
"Yeah…but…geez…" Michael so eloquently replied, scratching the back of his head.
"At least we're awake now, unlike someone we know," I argued. Michael looked at me confusedly, unsure of what I meant until a loud snoring sound suddenly came out of Michael's bag.
"Ah," Michael realized. "Yeah, let's let her keep sleeping for a while. It's less stressful for me that way." He started towards the door, mumbling something about the afternoon under his breath while doing so.
"What was that, Michael?" I asked, smirking at how he flinched, not realizing that I could still hear him.
"Um…I said that we should probably get going," he answered, already halfway outside. "We've already wasted enough time today, so…um…let's go!"
Unfortunately for Michael, it didn't seem like today was going to let him off that easily. "We did it, Michael!" a familiar flash of pink and yellow screamed directly into his ear as it flew out of Michael's bag.
"Well, she didn't stay asleep for very long," Allison lamented.
"Poor Michael…" I added.
"We finally flapping did it!" Stella continued screaming while Michael simply hung his head in despair, finally giving up. "You probably can't see it, but there's benevolessence as far as the eye can see!" Stella was right. I definitely couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, and it didn't appear that Allison could, either. "You must be due some kind of promotion for making so many people happy! You're a high flyer, and no mistake." Stella stopped talking when she realized that she was receiving a horrifying glare from Michael. Even I instinctively took a step back when I saw his face. "…Oh, no offence," Stella apologized. I guess Michael was still kind of upset about losing some of his abilities. "Hey! This means we can get the Starflight Express moving again! All aboard the groovy train! Come on! Let's hurry back there. Full steam ahead!"
"What's the Starflight Express?" Allison asked as Stella disappeared back into Michael's bag.
"We'll explain later," I answered. "We should probably head back to Stornway now, right Michael?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "We should leave as soon as possible."
"Wait," Allison suddenly said.
"What?" Michael asked.
"A-am I coming with you? On your adventure?"
Both Michael and I were taken aback by her question. "Well…yeah," I answered. "You didn't think that you were?"
"No…I just thought that I was only helping you out in Coffinwell. I didn't think that you would want me to stay with you afterwards."
"That's stupid. What would you even do if you stayed here?" I asked.
"Well, I would…um…I would…um…I don't know," she responded. "I guess they don't really need my healing anymore, and it's a little late for me to go back to Swinedimples this semester…"
"Hm…" Michael mused. "Well, since you have nothing better to do, you may as well travel with us. In fact, we should be the ones asking you if you want to travel with us. If you weren't here, Jessica wouldn't be alive right now. We kind of owe you after that."
"Really?" Allison asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Of course!" I answered. "Besides, do you really think that I would just leave my best friend after finally reuniting with her after all of these years?"
Allison smiled. "No, I guess not."
"Exactly," I continued, grabbing my best friend's arm and pulling her down the staircase towards the city entrance. "Now, let's hurry up and get going. Michael has somewhere important to be, and we need to make sure that he gets there safely."
"Hey!" Michael protested. "I'm perfectly capable of keeping myself safe, thank you."
"You were the one who came to me asking for help, Michael. And you pretty much just asked Allison, too."
"That's not…But…I…Ugh…"
(Allison's POV)
"Hey, Allison?" Michael suddenly asked, breaking the peaceful silence as we made our way back to Stornway.
"Yeah?"
"Well, I was thinking, and I realized that, despite all that we've been through, I don't actually know very much about you. I was just wondering if you were willing to talk a little about yourself, since we have such a long walk ahead of us and whatnot."
Jessica glanced over at me with a concerned expression, to which I simply shrugged back in response. "Yeah, I suppose I could do that," I answered. "Where do I even begin, though?"
"Wherever you want, I guess," Michael replied. "It doesn't really matter to me."
"Are you sure, Allison?" Jessica asked, still looking concerned.
"Yeah, it's really no big deal," I reassured while gathering my thoughts. "I suppose I may as well start with the simple stuff. As you already know, I'm usually a student at Swinedimples Academy, where I study Healing Magic and the Faithful Arts."
"But not weapon training or combat skills," Michael added sarcastically.
"Why? Do you think she needs them, Michael?" Jessica interjected, causing Michael to recoil slightly.
"No, it's fine Jessica," I replied, saving Michael from anymore beratement. "Priests typically don't have to worry about those kinds of things. Most of us usually spend most of our time just standing in churches. Battling really isn't a priority for us."
"That makes sense, I guess," Michael replied. "But what do you do when you're not in school?"
"Oh, I just stay at the inn in Coffinwell," I explained. "The innkeeper is kind enough to let me stay there for free in exchange for helping out around the inn while I'm there."
"You stay at the inn?" Michael asked, confused. "Don't you have any family you could stay with? Actually, now that I think about it, you haven't said anything about your family the whole time I've known you. How come?"
"Well, it's simple, really," I answered.
"Allison, you don't have to tell him if you don't want to," Jessica interrupted, still looking just as concerned as earlier.
"Jessica, it's alright. Just relax, okay?" I responded in an attempt to sooth my friend. "The reason you haven't heard anything about my family in Coffinwell is because I don't have any family in Coffinwell. Not anymore, at least."
"Not anymore?" Michael repeated, a look of concern also appearing on his face.
"Well, I used to live with my uncle," I continued. "But he died a couple of years ago in a house fire while I was away studying at school. He left me enough money to pay for school and take care of myself, but that was about it. After that, I just stayed at the inn whenever I was in town."
"For the record," Jessica added, "my family offered to let her stay at our house, but Allison declined the offer."
"I didn't want to be a bother," I explained, only for Jessica to roll her eyes.
"But, what about your parents?" Michael asked. "Where were they?"
"I don't know," I answered, frowning.
"You…don't know?" Michael once again repeated.
"Nope. I have no idea. All my uncle ever told me was that, when I was young, my parents sent me to live with him, hoping that he could give me a better life than they ever could."
"That's all you know about them?" Michael asked somewhat somberly.
"Well, I do have a few faint memories from when I was really young, but there isn't much that I can learn from them anymore. They've become too distant."
"I'm…sorry to hear that," Michael responded, seemingly unsure of what to say. "Maybe we'll run into them one day."
"Maybe, but I'm not going to get my hopes up," I replied, sighing. I looked up and saw the river crossing on the Coffinwell border. "Oh, we're almost at the checkpoint to enter Stornway," I announced. "I guess we're almost there, then."
"Oh, thank the Almighty!" Jessica exclaimed. "I'm still really tired after last night, and I just want to go back to sleep again. Let's just hurry up and get back to Erinn's inn."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Michael agreed. "Let's go."
(Michael's POV)
"Maybe this is my exhaustion talking, but this is quite possibly the most comfortable bed I have lay in in a very long time."
I rolled my eyes while taking off my armor. "Oh, come on, Jessica. You can't be that tired."
She half-attempted to turn her head to look at me. "If my limbs weren't all already asleep, I would be tempted to hit you."
"You have a strange obsession with causing Michael distress, don't you?" Allison asked from her bed. Jessica simply gave what was quite possibly the most pathetic shrug I had ever seen in response. "Right…" Allison continued, unsure of what to make of Jessica's answer. "Anyway, your friend Erinn seems pretty nice."
"Oh, yeah," I replied. "She's been like that for as long as I've known her. Patty, on the other hand, seemed uncharacteristically upset when she saw you, Allison."
"Yeah, I noticed that," Allison agreed. "I wonder why."
"She's probably just disappointed that she didn't get to formally add you to Michael's adventuring party, Allison," Jessica explained. "There's nothing she loves more than that."
"I…see. What a strange woman," Allison exclaimed.
"Well, that's Patty for you," I responded.
"I guess…" Allison accepted hesitantly. "Anyway, what's your plan for tomorrow, Michael?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. "We're going to the Starflight Express."
"No, I mean after that. What are Jessica and I going to do after you go back to the Observatory?"
I could feel one of eyes begin to twitch after hearing Allison's question. I completely forgot that this would eventually happen. And, based on how Jessica suddenly sat up and was now staring at me with a panicked expression, I'm guessing that it never occurred to her, either. "Um…Well…I suppose you could-"
"No, Michael!" Stella suddenly screamed, shooting out of my bag and getting really close up to my face. "Don't you dare flapping say it! I absolutely refuse to do that!"
I stared at her with a blank expression on my face, extremely confused. "Um…don't do what?"
"Take them with us to the Observatory, of course!" Stella stated loudly. "What else would you have been flapping thinking about doing?"
"Oh," I responded calmly. "That's actually a much better idea than what I had. Let's do that instead."
"What was your idea, Michael?" Allison asked, somewhat concerned.
"It's…not important," I told her. "Thanks again for that brilliant idea, Stella."
Stella, for her part, looked like she was about to explode in sheer rage. Her body appeared to be shaking uncontrollably, and, despite how dark her tanned skin already was, her face seemed to grow a few shades darker. Without saying a word, she flew back into my bag in a huff. From within, I could hear her faintly screaming in a way that would put the Ragin' Contagion to shame, along with a noise that sounded suspiciously like all of my belongings being tossed around in a storm of fury.
"Wait, Michael, are you serious!?" Jessica asked, suddenly full of energy again.
"About what?"
"About taking us to the Observatory! What else would I have been talking about? Stella having a brilliant idea?"
"Oh. Yeah, I'm serious about that. Why not?"
"Oh my Almighty. Oh my Almighty. Oh my Almighty," I suddenly heard being whispered very rapidly from my other side. The full impact of what I said must have finally hit Allison, as she had her hands over her mouth and seemed in danger of hyperventilating.
"Allison, please calm down," I begged. She only shook her head in response. Sighing, I then attempted to compromise with her. "Well, we should try to go to sleep, anyway. We need to be well rested for tomorrow." Allison nodded in understanding, and then, without a word, collapsed onto her bed, fast asleep. "What…just happened?" I asked, concerned for her health.
"I think she just cast Snooze on herself," Jessica answered.
"That's both impressive…and slightly disturbing."
"Yeah, well, I think that she has the right idea," Jessica responded while lowering herself back into her own bed and pulling up the covers. "Like you said, we should go to sleep."
"Alright, then. I'll see you in the morning." An incoherent mumbling was all that I got in response. Extinguishing the bedside lamp and setting the stupid feathered headband besides it, I lay down in bed and sighed. Everyone at the Observatory is probably going to hate me tomorrow.
~~ End of Act One ~~
Well, I hope that was worth the wait. Also, Jessica lives! Granted, that was 10,000 words ago, but this is the first chance that I got to celebrate it.
Did you guys like this chapter? What about Act One in general? Any advice that you could give would be greatly appreciated and would definitely help make Act Two even better.
Now, before I get down to the typical post-chapter business, I would like to take this moment to thank everyone.
First, I'd like to thank the 25 people who favorited The Mortal's Guardian: Michael's Story: LuckyMoonWriter, pensuka, of dragons, shadowmwape, DracoObsidian, Yurei Hanatsuki, Master of Red Windex, Alchemist1000, Uchiha Orion, Kirara-Elfkin, redsnivy, Tindle, KaytheGreat, cooking samurai, Shadow of the Dragons, nega saiyan, Ryo551, Dragonfighter64, WolfPack64, ffchen sarah, Demonfan50, Saint of vice koncor, outcast247, LadyFantasy13, and AGuyWhoCan'tWrite.
Next, I would like to thank the 35 people who follow The Mortal's Guardian: Michael's Story: SodaPOP20, Luckenhaft, pensuka, shadowmwape, Italia19, .reading, jsun25, Alchemist1000, Nothing on here, Uchiha Orion, HetalianTheAlmighty, Dorothy Lee Bones, redsnivy, CreationMagician, Tindle, KaytheGreat, Arkanociel, Shadow of the Dragons, nega saiyan, Dragonfighter64, CDSoundtrack, WolfPack64, MagatsuIza, robbo2480, Loinnir, notsilymerej, Alzion, Cyrania de Bergerac, Demonfan50, Saint of vice koncor, Laradhel, Robynhood13, outcast247, LadyFantasy13, and AGuyWhoCan'tWrite.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who left one of the 44 reviews on The Mortal's Guardian: Michael's Story: LuckyMoonWriter, Casamora, Luckenhaft, SodaPOP20, of dragons, Yurei Hanatsuki, Master of Red Windex, Alchemist1000, Nothing on here, Uchiha Orion, Olivia, Shadow of the Dragons, Rosalynne Myers, jsun25, WolfPack64, Alzion, and a handful of anonymous reviewers.
Also, congratulations! You're the 4000th viewer of The Mortal's Guardian: Michael's Story. Maybe. The story is currently just short of hitting 4000 views, which means that there's a chance that you, the one reading it right now, may be the 4000th viewer. Since none of us has anyway to actually know who made the 4000th view, let's just say that you all did. Hooray! I wish that there was someway that I could thank all of you for helping me make the story get so far. I never would have imagined that I would ever have so many people interested in something that I do for fun. You guys really are the greatest.
Anyway, back to the normal business. First, I want to talk about character contest/suggestion box/random thing-a-ma-jig that I've been running for the past few chapters. It has occurred to me that I have probably given eight completely different explanations on what it actually is and what I'm actually looking for. I want to apologize for any and all confusion that I have caused because of this. Many of you have come up with amazing characters with incredible backstories. I can't overstate just how impressed I am with all of the characters that you have created. However, as much as it pains me to say this, this is not what I was looking for. I already have all of the main characters that I'm using created, and, as three of them already exist in the story, it is very unlikely that I will change who the final character will be. What I am looking for is how this final character will get introduced into the story. They will get introduced in Act Two; but, I have done very little planning when it comes to the second act. As such, I only have a very loose idea of how they will initially meet and join Michael. This is where I want your suggestions. Tell me how you think the final character should be introduced, and you may just change how the story goes. Of course, this is entirely optional and you shouldn't feel obligated to come up with ideas if you don't want to.
Going off of that, as I said, I have done very little planning in regards of Act Two. If you have any ideas for what kinds of things should happen to Michael and friends on their journey, I'd love to hear them. Rival adventuring group? Awkward romantic sub-plots? Something good actually happening to Stella? Everything's fair game. You name it, I'll probably add it into the story somehow.
By the way, I hid a small hint as to what the final character's vocation will be somewhere in the story. Let's see if any of you can find it.
Moving on to a different topic, I'd like to once again thank all of you for the patience that you have with me and how long it takes me to write. I know that it's kind of difficult to only be able to communicate with me every few months through the reviews, only to have to wait several months for a reply. That's why I've decided to create a forum for the story in order to make communicating between us easier. If you're interested, it's called The Mortal's Guardian: Michael's Story Forum. You don't have to use it, but it's there if you want to.
As for when to expect the next chapter, I have no idea. It'll probably take me awhile to get Act Two started. And then there's Pokemon Sun and Moon. That'll take all of my attention for a few weeks. And, of course, there's always college work to worry about. I hate to say this, but, let's shoot for April again. I'll try to get it done earlier, but that'll be my ultimate deadline.
I really need to get better at writing shorter author's notes. This is ridiculous.
Anyway, I think that this just about wraps it up for this chapter. Again, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review if you haven't so far. And, as always, let me know of any typos that I may have made in this chapter. It's a long one, so I'm bound to of missed at least one.
Until next time, this has been D~F.
