Fun story, I barely slept at all last night. Literally. I was dead awake until at least two in the morning, and woke up around eight. I honestly thought I was going to be awake the whole night. Fun.
I have some free time, so I decided to post this. I hope you like it. See you at the bottom of the page.
Chapter 1: Being Sneaky
"As nice as it was for The Artist to take The Author back to college, it would have been nice if they said goodbye first." The Mom picked up her purse and searched for the keys to the van. "Honey, I can't find my keys. Can we use yours?"
The Dad rolled his eyes, but had a slight smile on his face. "Sure, dear."
"Do we have to go?" The Gamer whined.
"Yes," The Mom said tightly. "And if you complain, I'm dropping you off in the middle of nowhere."
"Come on, Gamer! It'll be fun to get out of the house," The Deviant said. "Can we get donuts, Mom?"
"Maybe."
"Ew…" The Gamer muttered. "Outside… what's the point?"
"What did your mother say about complaining?" The Dad said with a hint of the deep well of annoyance within him.
"Vet, are you sure you don't want me to stay a little longer to make breakfast for your friends?" The Mom asked.
The Vet had grown her hair out again, and her hair dye made her hair look almost as ginger as The Author's. Author… "It's okay, Mom. We'll probably just grab something to eat an hour into the trip or so."
"Well, okay…" The Mom lingered in the kitchen as The Dad led The Deviant and reluctant Gamer to the door. "Vet, I know you said you had a whole schedule for your road trip with your friends planned, but…"
"Yes, Mom?"
"Could you maybe stop by at The Author's college and check in on her? She hasn't been texting me goodnight like she used to, and I'm starting to get worried. I'd go myself, but with my new job and everything…"
Vet felt a pang in her heart, but forced a smile. "Of course, Mom. She's probably just busy with classes; you know how stressed she gets."
"That's the problem." The Mom kissed Vet's forehead and made her way to the door, where the rest of the family had already gone out to the car. "Have fun, honey!"
"Bye, Mom." The Mom closed the door behind her. Vet sat in the kitchen for a few moments, listening to her family's footsteps fade as they went down the porch stairs. After a bit, she went to the window by the door and peered out into the cul-de-sac. The van drove up the hill and out of sight just as she reached the window. She sighed, adjusting her plain T-shirt and tightening her ponytail.
Returning to the kitchen, she moved some papers around on the table before lifting an envelope to eye level. It was a plain white envelope, with the only indication of who it was meant for being "The Vet" printed in black ink on the flat side. Vet opened the envelope and pulled out the letter within with a wax seal at the bottom. She read aloud quietly:
"Dear 'The Vet',
I know we've had our differences before, but I want you to know that I don't see your sister as a mere conundrum to be examined, but as a human being and a valuable member of our Cult of Veneziano. I was just as concerned as you when you informed me that The Author is missing. I'll bet," Vet muttered.
"Of course, this isn't something you have to go through alone. I've informed the rest of the cult of what happened, and they are ready and willing to help, if you think this is something cult related and not just a standard kidnapping—STANDARD?!" Vet growled. "There is nothing standard about this!" She clenched her eyes shut and took a few deep breaths. After she calmed down, she continued:
"I've organized a time for all of us to be magically teleported to your house that works for everyone: any Sunday at 7:52 AM, within the next two weeks. At the designated time, and if you want our help, you can press the wax seal at the bottom of this letter to activate the magic that will bring us to your location. You'll have to convince your folks to go somewhere out of the way, at least for a few hours. I hope we can be of service.
From, Brittany Davis."
Vet looked around the house, which was easy since the kitchen and family room weren't separated by a wall. "There's no way everyone will fit in here," she groaned. The Cat meowed and rubbed her cheek on Vet's leg. Vet reached down to pet the little tuxedo cat absently. "…Come on, Cat," she said at last. "Let's go reorganize the house."
The next few minutes involved The Vet pushing the chairs and tables in the downstairs open area against the wall, leaving a decent space for people to stand at least a little more comfortably. "It's definitely not enough room, but…" Vet looked at the oven clock. 7:51 AM, on the second Sunday allotted. "It'll have to do," she decided.
She couldn't have done it on the first Sunday, since A: she had work on that day, and 2: her parents had no reason to leave the house for a long enough time. Today, however, fate seemed to be working in her favor. She had managed to arrange her work hours so that Sunday was completely free, and her parents—and thus, her siblings—had volunteered to take down the mini-shelters for the homeless at church, which would then be followed by mass, which would then be followed by Mom talking with everyone in the church for nearly an hour. The cult had until 11 AM at the earliest, and maybe they'd get lucky and her family would go out for donuts afterwards like Devi wanted.
Vet lifted The Cat into her arms, nuzzling her head with her own, and pressed the seal on the letter. The air seemed to buzz slightly, and in a series of flashes of light, members of The Cult of Veneziano appeared in The Vet's house. The house was filled with the sound of gasps of surprise, mumbling, and "aw, look at the kitty!" It was a very tight fit, but somehow, a hundred cult members pressed shoulder to shoulder in the space provided.
The Cat, as cats are wont to do, was clearly displeased with the sudden appearance of so many people, and struggled in The Vet's arms. Vet simply set the letter down and cuddled the cat, murmuring sweet nothings in her ear. For a hundred people being pressed into a small space, it was surprisingly quiet… until someone spoke loudly.
"I was with my boyfriend!" The Artist whined. "He's not gonna know what happened!"
"Bloody heck, Artist, that's your own fault!" A familiar voice silenced everyone. Vet took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. "I told you it was either last Sunday or this Sunday! You should have been prepared!"
"But my boyfriend wanted to hang out!"
Brittany Davis, squeezed past some people and stopped between The Vet and The Artist, messy blond hair suggesting she had just gotten out of bed. "Get your priorities straight, Artist! Your friend is missing!"
The Artist opened her mouth, then closed it and looked at the floor. She tugged at her hair she'd grown out, tied in a braid and dyed blue and blonde.
"Alright," Brittany said. "Now, could I have everyone's—"
"Brittany!" Another familiar voice called from the crowd. "I can't see ya!"
"I'm in the middle of the bloody room, Casey! You don't have to see me; you can hear me!"
Some more murmuring rose from the group, followed with a series of "'scuse me"'s and "sorry"'s. Casey appeared next to Brittany and bounced on her heels, short black hair moving with her motions and her all-black outfit wrinkled like she'd just gotten out of bed, too. "'ere I am, love!"
"C-Casey!" Brittany stammered as a bunch of 'ooh's and 'aw's reverberated around the house.
Vet snapped her fingers, still holding The Cat. "Can we please get to the point?" She asked in annoyance. The Cat meowed again, and Vet squeezed through the group to grab The Cat's food and water dishes before placing them all in the bathroom where the litterbox was and closing the door.
"Yes, you're right," Brittany said when Vet returned. "I've given you all a brief tale of what happened, but The Vet and The Artist know the story best, which isn't saying much. Vet, would you kindly explain what you know?"
Vet nodded. "Two weeks ago, my sister, The Author, disappeared off the face of the Earth. Again." Someone snickered, but she continued: "My other sister, The Deviant, said The Author told her she was going to the movies with The Artist."
"Which we didn't, by the way," Artist popped in. "I haven't seen her since the beginning of her summer break."
"Exactly," Vet nodded. "Devi told me something interesting, too. She said she heard the voices of a few men as The Author was leaving the house. Immediately, I thought of the countries."
Brittany frowned. "I believe I made it quite clear that no one in the cult is allowed to be with the countries one on one, especially if it happened already."
"Do ya think the countries kidnapped The Author?" Casey asked.
"I don't know why they would, but that's our only clue," Vet replied. "It's not like I don't trust them, but I don't know what else to think."
Brittany hummed and put a hand to her chin. "I believe we should at least talk to them. I'll conjure a letter to—"
DING-DONG!
Everyone went quiet and looked in the direction of the door.
"Maybe it's just a mailman," Vet said after a moment. "Everyone, stay quiet; I'm going to check."
The crowd pressed away from the hall entrance into the living space, giving The Vet ample room to reach the door. She peered through the window again. There seemed to be more than one person there, but it definitely wasn't her family. Neighbors? She wondered. They'd better not ask to come in… She opened the door—
WHOOSH!
There was a collective noise of gasps and confusion as a lukewarm gust blew through everyone in the house. Vet blinked away the feeling and did a double take. Standing on the porch in casual clothes was a group of twelve anime men. The one at the front made jazz hands. "Tag, Maedchen! It's ya boi Gilbert!"
I heard somewhere that in Pokemon Sun and Moon, Guzma, the leader of Team Skull, says 'ore-sama' at some point in the Japanese version, and the best translation of that, in the mind of the person analyzing the quote, was 'it's your boy', or 'it's ya boi'. Gilbert says 'ore-sama' in his song "Mein Gott", so I figured if anyone would say 'it's ya boi', it'd be Gilbert.
Oh, look, it's The Family! They won't be making much of an appearance for a while, but you will see them again! What did you think of them? I tried to recreate the dynamic my family really has. Usually with Gamer, there's a lot more yelling and complaining.
So many people, all in one house! And what are the countries doing here? Did they know something was up? For answers to these questions and more, leave a review, tell me what you thought, and check out some of my other stories if you're up to it! Until then!
