"No, that' snot fair!" Jet, the son of Clyde protested. "I want to play with Unc'a Jet more!"
"You know that eight' o'clock is the latest I will ever let you stay up Jet Enduro." Faluna scolded. "Now, go on up to bed."
Jet stood idly by watching the two boys get escorted to bed by their mother. By now all of the group was back together since it was said that the time for bed was coming. It was too early. Jet was used to later hours. In fact, he was not even sure he ever slept much. He could easily go at least three days without getting tired. Is that normal? He wondered if someone like Clive could cross the wasteland with no food, water, and all over the period of three days and not even need the sleep too. Was it just him? He got this upset feeling in his stomach thinking about it. Then it flashed in his mind. Those green pods of water that they cloned him in. He saw it in his mind. He wanted to barf there and then, but everyone was watching. They were all behind him.
"You four may use the guest room." Clyde announced as he walked up. "Follow me."
Gallows and Clive began for the room and Virginia waited for Jet to move. He did not. So she took his hand and dragged him with her. Before they got to the end of the hall a shout was heard. "I want Unc'a Jet to read me my story!" The little Jet announced.
"Yeah, I want Jet to read us a story tonight." Elliot retorted.
Virginia stopped. "Well, Unc'a Jet?" Virginia mused. He groaned and looked away.
Faluna entered the hall. "Oh, would you mind if you told them a story Jet? They are rather fond of you."
Jet looked back into his head. Sighed. Mumbled some unintelligent words. Tapped on his elbow with his fingers since he had his arms crossed to begin with. "Fine." He finally stated. Faluna simply smiled at that.
"Okay, come this way." Faluna led him into the boy's room. They each had a separate bed; adjacent from one another. Faluna placed a chair between the two and turned Jet's attention to the shelf on the wall. "Here's where we keep their books. Feel free to choose one."
"Uh, yeah." He got out between the cheers from the boys and the mother who politely said to stop or Jet may not read to them. Jet simply stared at all the books. Scratching his head. He didn't know how to read any of the titles. They all seemed a bit oddly named. Were they in another language? He shook his head. It was probably just the dim light given off by the candle. He sat in the chair ignoring the books. "Forget the books. I know much better stories anyway."
"Really? One of your adventures?" Elliot wondered.
"My adventures?" Jet wondered.
"Yeah, Virginia was telling us all about you." Elliot replied.
"She did, did she? Well, I'll have to rethink what I'll say then."
"Well, is there action in this one?" Elliot wondered.
"There's action in all my stories." Jet replied.
"And, what about monsters?"
"There's always monsters or demons too, but," He notices how the little Jet grabbed his blanket at that. "They aren't so scary the monsters. They just happen to be one." The boy relaxed. "What else do you want in the story?"
"Well, uh, what about knights?"
"No, that story isn't interesting, but I'll add some anyway."
"What about the girl? The hero always saves a girl." Elliot brought up. Young Jet nodded in response.
"I, guess I'll throw one in for you guys." Jet relented.
"Okay, so tell us the story then!" Elliot replied.
Jet chuckled. "Okay, just hold on a minute." He smiled. Virginia—who was watching from the door with Faluna—had never seen Jet smile and laugh like that. It sort of made her smile too. Did Jet have the power to make everyone smile as long as he did too? "Well, let's see…Oh, it was some time ago, but not so long ago. There was a young man with the name of…Er…Jet." He said. He had no other idea on what sort of name he could give. "Well, Jet was a gunslinger. Yeah, he was. He had this cool gun with the," He stopped. "Uh, he had a cool gun. It wasn't special. It was just a gun. And, he was good at using it too." He added.
"Well, Jet was living his life pretty simple. He would just wander around helping people all over the place. He never took rewards." Virginia almost laughed at that. This Jet was obviously not him. "Well, he, uh, hmm."
"You don't know?" Elliot wondered. "It's you story."
"I know! He was just living like that for as long as he could remember. Then one day he came upon a town. It was torn apart and the people were dirty and scared. 'What was wrong?' he wondered. A villager replied, 'A few days ago demons came and took my daughter away. They retreated to their tower of evil to the north.' So, Jet took his gun and gave an arrogant grin. He said he would saved her and help the town regain their once prosperity."
"What's prosperity?"
"Uh, it doesn't matter. I guess, it means, well, he's just going to help the town become a good town again." Jet explained nervously. He let his confidence return. "So, he came upon the tower. It was soooo high, and soooo dark that it made his horse run away. But, no, not Jet. He stood firm and stride right through the front gate."
"Was there a drawbridge?"
"A drawbridge? Why?"
"I don't know. Most of the stories have one."
"Well, no, this is my story. There are no crummy thing like those."
"Oh, okay."
"Do you really need one?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, then there was a drawbridge, but it was never raised since the demons could not do so."
"Why not?"
"I don't know, just because."
"Why? There must be a reason."
"Uh, they didn't have thumbs."
"They didn't?"
"No, they didn't."
"Oh, that's weird."
"Forget it! The drawbridge just can't be closed because of an ancient magical seal placed on it that makes it that way." Jet responded.
"Okay, that makes sense." Jet groaned.
"Okay, well, where was I? Right he entered the tower. And, as soon as he did, the door disappeared. He could not go back. No doubt some sorcery he thought. So he went on his way. As he came to a large room with stairs in the middle of it. He began for it, but suddenly the whole room lit up. 'Where do you think you're going?' he heard. From the distance was a demon with black-green skin who had a tongue that fell to his knees. 'I am Kobold', the demon said, 'I will not let you go on to the second floor, and there is only one way to go on up.' Jet looked on with bravery, 'Oh, and how is that? Must I kill you?'. 'No' the demon replied. 'You must defeat me in a footrace around my track.' 'You're track', Jet wondered. And from nowhere a running track appeared around the room. The demon took a spot on it behind a line. Jet took his place. He accepted the challenge. Jet ran against the demon, but no matter how fast he ran, Kobold was always ahead. In fact, Kobold was so far ahead, that he was done before Jet had moved two steps."
"Kobold cheated?" Elliot wondered.
"No, he didn't." Jet responded. "Moving on, Jet was left at a loss. He was thrown out of the room. He could move no farther without defeating Kobold. And, as Jet lied on the cold ground, he noticed that there were two pieces of candy nearby. A red one, and a blue one."
"Did he eat them and he got faster?"
"It's just candy." Jet gave the two boys a hooded look. "Candy doesn't make you faster."
"What if it was a sugar rush?"
"Well, no, that's not really." Jet groaned. "Look, let's continue. Anyway, so Jet returned to Kobold with the pieces of candy. 'Oh, so you're back? Do you wish to race again?', Kobold wondered. 'No,' said Jet. 'I wish to offer you this as a token.' And Jet gave the blue candy to the beast. 'A gift?', Kobold wondered. 'Yes, you beat me fairly, and you deserve a reward.' Jet responded. Kobold ate the candy, but the moment he did, he turned to a statue. He was frozen. Jet did not know why, but instead he moved on up the stairway."
"Why did Kobold turn to a statue?" Elliot wondered.
"I'll tell you later."
"I want to know now."
"But then it won't be fun later." Jet responded. "So, Jet made it to the second floor, and he found a large table with a goblet on it. He moved forward and looked into it and saw a drink. 'Do you think you can drink that all?', a loud echo of a voice said. Behind the table was a large man. Bearded and all. 'If you can drink all that is in that cup, you may go on up to the final floor.', the giant said. Jet scoffed. He was known as the best…uh" Jet was going to go into detail about being the best drunk, but that's not good for a kid's story right? "Well, he knew he could drink all that was in the cup. So, Jet did so, and he drank until he no longer could breath, and then he drank more. And when he put that cup down, it was still as full as it was when he started. 'Oh, I see you were not able to.' Said the giant. 'I'm sorry, but you cannot go any further.' Jet looked to him. 'It is not your fault. You are a good man, take this treat.' And Jet gave him the red candy."
"What happens to this guy?"
"Nothing. He eats it, and nothing." Jet explained.
"But, then what happened to Jet?"
"Well, listen up." Jet went on. "For being so kind, Jet was allowed by the Giant to continue. Jet arrived on the third floor, but found nothing. As he was waiting in the dark out came an old woman. 'You wish to save the girl and help the village?' she wondered. 'Yea, I have come for that reason', Jet replied. 'If you wish to do so you must lift me.' Jet scoffed. He was a strong man. Lifting an old woman should be easy. But, as hard as he tried he could not even get her an inch off the ground. Jet was at a loss. He had nothing to use, and could not pass the task. He did everything he honestly believed was right, and had nothing left. He wondered if giving his own life to the old woman would let the people be happy in the village and the girl be free. She said nothing back and a door was opened. Jet took the door and was met by a man as tall as the sky. In a boisterous voice he called, 'So, you are the one who was able to pass my trials and come up here?'. 'I am, but I passed none of your trials.' Jet replied. 'There was no way you could have. To defeat Kobold you would have never been fast enough. Kobold was not real. He was a thought, and being a thought he can be done with a race in a thought. That candy you gave him made him sticky and the thought faded. The cup of drink, was the very ocean. You cannot drink all of an ocean. But, you befriend the giant and that was enough. You shared all that you had. If you had offered the cup to him he would have let you up as well. The old woman was old age, and no one can defeat old age, but you were able to overcome old age by not seeing it as an obstacle. You were about to let your own life go just to help everyone.'. Jet stared at the large man, 'and just who are you? Are you the one who makes the village so?' 'The village is not at all real. I made it with my mind as I did Kobold.'. 'Why would you do that? What about this girl?' Jet wondered. 'The girl is my daughter and…You guys are asleep."
He stared at the two boys. They were indeed asleep. He groaned as he put his head in his hand. "Well, whatever. Everything ended nice and all." Jet commented. He rose from the chair and put it back against the wall. He put out the candle and he made sure the kids were covered. "Waste of my time." Was it?
He left the room for the vacant halls. Closing the door to the boy's room behind him. How long was he telling that dumb story? He found the guest room where the other three sat in silence. "Uh, what are you guys doing?"
"Did you notice anything weird about the dinner?" Clive wondered. "The lunch too."
"No, why?"
"I don't know, after eating it, I noticed I was still hungry." Clive replied.
"So? Maybe you have a tapeworm." Jet replied.
"But, Gallows and I are hungry too." Virginia mentioned.
Jet stood there. "I…am too. Why?"
"My thoughts exactly. We all ate at both meals."
"Maybe, we just digested it already." Gallows commented.
"What are you saying? That this is something you think is suspicious, and may be another weird thing that happens on Filgaia?" Jet wondered. "It's not! This has nothing to do with anything like guardians, the council of seven, or Beatrice. You're making a mountain out of a little hill."
The other three exchanged glances. "You're right. We were just being too paranoid." Clive affirmed.
"Okay, so let's go to bed." Jet retorted. Then he noted there was only two beds.
"So, who's sharing with who?" Gallows wondered.
"I guess, I should share with Virginia." Clive noted.
"Why you?" Jet wondered.
"I'm married. Wouldn't you trust me best in the same bed as her?"
"No! I'm very trusting too!" Jet retorted. "I can understand Gallows, but not me. So why rule me out?"
"Hey, how dare you say you can't trust me?" Gallows interjected.
"I think this has been settled." Clive interjected as well.
"I don't care! He said he can't trust me!" Gallows replied. "You think you're better than me punk?"
"Whatever."
"Hey, none of that crap. Answer me!" Gallows gave him a stern look.
Virginia stepped between the two. "C'mon, stop fighting. None of us are better than the other." She turns to Jet. "Do you want to share a bed with me so badly you'd start a fight?"
He just stared at her. "No, it was just the whole point."
She turns away onto her bed. "This will be where I'm sleeping. Clive, you get the other side."
"I get this side." Jet immediately said. It was the side right next to the small table between the bed and the closest to Virginia. "You can have the window." He said to Gallows with a glare.
"Yeah, I like the window anyway." Gallows replied and sat on the other side.
"Well, sleep well you guys!" Virginia cheerfully said after taking off her boots and lying down under the covers. The dress she earlier fashioned that was lent by Faluna was taken off long before now. While Jet was telling his story and the other two were off doing whatever. She was back in her normal attire, as weird as it felt at first.
"Yeah, good night." Jet oddly said and did the same. Gallows and Clive exchanged glances and followed suit.
Hours went by. The night became morning. Someone was snoring. It was annoying. Jet stared at the pale blue ceiling. Who was he? His brother said that in the morning he would help him find the answer. Some trip to somewhere. He hoped that everything would run smoothly. No matter how he lied, he could not get to bed. Finally he settled on his side. Facing right at Virginia. Why had she been helping him as of late? She has always been awkwardly kind to him. Clive was too. Gallows, he was not sure of. Sometimes it seemed that Gallows and he were enemies, and then, they were friends. Well, not friends, but they acted friendly enough.
So, he just lied here staring at the other bed. Not at anyone in the bed, just that direction, because he did not like how it felt to be on any other of his sides. Then she moved. She moved and his eyes went to her face. She was awake. She looked at his eyes and smiled. She gave a gesture that would mean to be quiet. Then she made a gesture that said go to sleep. Then she pointed at him and laughed. She turns away with a yawn and faces the ceiling and closes her eyes.
He just stares at her. Mainly because she just made some sort of weird charades that he did not understand. He understood the be quiet one. It was just a finger over the mouth. He did not understand the other two. Did she mean that he looked like a baby? He never thought Virginia would make fun of him, especially in the middle of night like that. No, he probably misunderstood something that normal people should know, but since he is not normal, he did not get.
He was not normal. There were times, he wanted to be a normal guy. He should be a normal guy. Maybe, after all of this he will be a normal guy when he finds himself and discovers who he really is. With that belief in his mind he was finally able to sleep.
