Sorry if this chapter seems a bit odd, I have some trouble gathering my thoughts and trying to piece together things in the right place. Old thoughts for a story you know? Took me a while to remember it all... or at least some of it. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it though! (I see this chapter as a conversation before the big event that will be happening next chapter!)
(Chapter Twenty Eight: Cooperation is everything)
It was another new day; Lynn walked along the path to one side of Mafia town, things seem to be going crazy with rumors of Julia going missing. The cause was unknown, but there have been a few search parties.
She hummed to herself "hmm... never a dull moment with you, Mafia girl..." Lynn said Julia's nickname, a fond thought even though she was still sore about the whole Mafia take over. "Just what exactly are you doing?"
Kicking a can over the ledge, she remembered her old hideout. Taking a quick stroll down the rocky path, she wanted to visit it again. Upon turning the corner to look in, she froze.
Inside the cave was Julia, eating fruits and a sandwich. The taller girl froze up as well when she was noticed.
"Uhh...-" Lynn was at a loss for words, "what... whatcha doing here?"
"Hiding from the authorities." Julia stated "also friends for now. Kinda working on a personal problem."
"Neat." Lynn deadpanned, "can I join you?"
"As long as you don't call the Mafia on me-" Julia tossed her a banana and the hooded girl caught it.
"Oh, trust me. Not gonna happen." The kid walked into the cave and sat down, "man, what kind of crazy shenanigans have you gotten into now?"
Julia finished her food and sat back, looking out at the bright sunny sky and ocean. Turning her head back over to Lynn she filled her in with the info.
"Remember that amalgamation? On the train?" Julia inquired at her
"Oh yeah- that creepy thing; it jumped out the train window right?" Lynn remembered with a shiver "you told Melody and the other about it, right?
"I did, and also," the tall women sat up, looking at the child with a serious face "apparently, that thing got a job at the studio. Never trusted it for a moment."
"What!? Who allowed that!?" Lynn shouted, but covered her mouth and looked around "why would anyone hire that thing?"
"A monster movie," Julia stated.
Lynn seemed to understand that, nodding. It was still hard to believe that thing got away with being trusted. Scratching her head, Lynn looked back at Julia who seemed to be getting ready to move on.
"What happened? Why is everyone looking for you?" Lynn asked
Brushing the dust off, she looked back at the small girl "the thing attacked me, made sure I was all riled up before he attacked..." adjusting her hat, Julia let out a large sigh "when they failed, it made them look like I attacked first. Nearly took them out with my strings if Melody hadn't stopped me."
Lynn hummed out "should have just offed the monster."
"And prove him right that I can't stay in control? Tempting, but I didn't want to give anyone nightmares." Julia chuckled, smiling at Lynn "but in all seriousness, I think he got under Melody and Bonnie's skin. They might be after me... so don't tell them you saw me. Okay?"
"You got it. Let me know if I can help and I'll kick butt with you again, alright?" Lynn crossed her arms watched Julia step away a good few feet from her.
With a smile, Julia held out her wrist like she was looking at a watch and spun a golden bracelet. In a blink, the Mafia girl was gone. No trace of her was left.
"Whoah-" Lynn smiled at Julia's new ability.
The tower was dark as before, lights filtering in from cracks and boarded out windows. Allen leaned against the wall as he watched Zephyr hang from a spiderweb of thread. He inspected the odd occurrence of the magic strings slowly changing color.
What had caused such a reaction? Well, he assumed it was Julia, the girl seems to be doing a lot of bizarre and impossible things. With a sigh, he looked back at Zephyr's form, he hated coming up here and looking at him.
It was always a reminder that he was his very own prisoner.
"You should take her offer." Allen called out, serious eyes gleamed at him "I want my freedom as much as you want yours."
No response, but Allen knows he can hear him. If only they can agree.
"She's back." Was the only thing Zephyr mentioned before going quiet again.
"I know." Allen turned away and walked down the tower.
Once at the bottom he was greeted by Julia, who walked in with a smile. It made Allen ease up, when she's in a good mood it always seems to light up the place. Just a little.
"Julia, he hasn't said much since yesterday." He looked at the girl who was making her way up the stairs "whatever you said must be much to think about."
Julia turned to the man, nodded, and continued to walk up.
Of course, he knew what they talked about. Honestly, he just wished to see real daylight again. They have to come up with some sort of compromise. After a while he followed Julia back up, he saw the girl just before she vanished behind the attic floor.
Julia had arrived in the attic and stopped to understand what exactly she was seeing. Confused but also amazed at how the lines were changing; a creeping green slowly overtaking red.
"So... how much have you thought about?" Julia asked, folding her arms with a neutral look "because I'm not sure how long I'll be able to hide from people."
Zephyr looked up slowly, tilting his head in question.
"There's a doppelgänger monster taking your place in tormenting me," she said, still thinking back on how she might have looked to the kids "made me look like the real monster because I couldn't keep my cool."
"The one who calls themselves Doppler..." Zephyr whispered.
Julia froze, looking at him with interest "you know 'em?"
A scoff of distaste "annoying pest. They were a candidate for MoonJumper's cause." Zephyr looked at the girl, who can tell she was agreeing with the part of 'most annoying'. "They had just broken out of their seal when the demon found out about it. The changeling caught wind and has been hidden ever since."
"Until I saw them on the train..." Julia mumbled out, then looked at the Zephyr to do a retake of what he just said: "I'm sorry, did you say seal-?"
"Of course, quiet the small one. Not as luxurious of a 'home' as mine." There was that joking tone of his. Bitter, but you could tell he was having fun poking at would be a bee's nest. "The best thing would be to seal them back where they belong. In a vase."
"A... vase?" Julia looked at him questioning the property of the containment "shouldn't it be something more... sturdier?"
Zephyr chuckled "it's not about the frailness of the container, it about how strong the sealer is." He pointed out, managing to move a single finger "It seems the previous 'exorcist' was just a fledgling. Not knowing what to do. A quick but terrible job."
"You really... know a lot about this" Julia mumbled.
"Because I know how it feels," Zephyr stated.
"Right..." Julia scratched the back of her head, a little awkward.
The room was quiet for now, Julia slid down the wall to sit on the ground. She wasn't sure what to do, and she didn't want Zephyr to rush for his answer. She was sure as hell didn't want him to start killing things when he gets free either.
"Diamond child..." Julia looked up at him, a curious gaze "do you... are your intentions true? Do you honestly wish to give Zephyr a second chance?"
"I do," she simply said, "and my offer of being family still stands even if you don't want to help me." She looked at her hands "I'll just have to figure things out slowly."
"Why not ask MoonJumper? Or that other spectator? The one who rules the forest." Zephyr asked her, then asked "or perhaps your dear doctor of Hearts? I'm sure he's read a few books about magic..."
Julia gripped the seems of her clothing, a pained face as she held on tighter to it. "MoonJumper left to go visit someone important, but that was a long while ago." She could feel Zephyr focusing on her "Gabriele... I don't..." she chocked a bit, trying to stop her voice from cracking "He's missing. There was a fire at the studio... and all I found was his hat."
It had to have been Doppler, no one else would attempt an attack on him otherwise.
he whispered something out that Julia couldn't quite hear, but then he raised his voice for her to listen to "This feeling that you have...? Was how I felt for as long as I can remember." Twitching his hands for a moment, "perhaps... perhaps we should alter this deal of yours?"
Still feeling a little torn up, Julia focused on him. She waited to hear what he had to say, interested in what he could suggest; hopefully, it was something Julia could agree on.
It took him a while to think about how to properly word his sentence; what he wanted to do in return for what she has offered. A personal desire; a spark lit up in him "let me have one last fight..." he looked at Julia dead in the eyes. "Our last had ended abruptly when the doubling coward ran away."
Zephyr didn't need to tell her he got into a fight with them. Julia could piece together that the recruitment didn't go as planned... which probably started the fight in the first place. Quite honestly, if it's against the doppelgänger, Julia shouldn't have any problems with it.
They had It coming.
Being okay with these terms and a smile, Julia stood up with her hand outstretched. Shockingly, as if on queue, the strings that had ensnared the mad jester turned fully green and snapped like they had been frozen. It caught the two off guard as they watched the pieces fall to the ground.
Allen could be heard quickly climbing up the steps with heavy stomping feet. Quickly breathing as he reached the top, he watched the two look back at each other finally clasping hands. Some hope and shine returned to his eyes.
"As promised, I'll play your little game of 'family' if... you will allow me to cut some frayed ends," Zephyr said, feeling relief that he was able to stretch.
"It's not a game Zephyr, I mean it." Julia shot him a face "you help me, and I'll help you. As long as it doesn't involve murder or anything related to that topic." She quickly added.
"Found anything yet, darling?" DJ asked, looking over his shoulder to see his rival looking at a lower shelf.
The two birds had taken a rare time off to go researching at a library. Too many times did they almost get caught looking at certain things back at the studio. DJ had to keep explaining that he was looking things up for a new movie in mind; thankfully the doppelgänger and a few of the staff believed him.
Since the monsters seemed to be drawn to the studio anyway, which was still odd, they thought it'd be a better idea to get out of there. So, the library they went, looking at the old section of books about the supernatural and possible things that can get rid of the monster that currently resides in their movie studio.
"I'm a train conductor, nae an exorcist; nae completely sure wot I'm tryin ta find." He mumbled, looking still.
There was a moment, Grooves shuffled through some books, taking them out and looking at them before placing them back.
He then had a thought.
"Why don't we just go to that Snatcher fellow, the one who's a ghost...?" He fully turned around this time, making the Conductor get up and look at him. "I mean, he's fairly strong, no doubt he can remove them with ease."
The Conductor had already thought about that, "honestly speekin, I'd rather nae sell me soul for something we can do ourselves." He stubbornly said, glaring at the penguin. "Wot if given our souls up takes away our ability to make movies from the heart? Nae takin a peckin chance laddie."
He had a point there, what if there were consequences? DJ hummed in thought once more before going back to work. They had to work fast, either way, taking a trip to the forest would take a few days.
They could only hope that they'll find something in time.
Julia had woken up, calm, collected; she turned to the locked box. She never did ask how to open it. It was a strong type of magic placed by Moon, but... she wasn't sure how to disarm it. Getting closer to said box, she looked at it intently before sitting down in front and fully inspecting it again.
With a tap of her hand on one of the chains, it snapped instantly. Almost disintegrated. Julia took in a sharp take for air, it had surprised her greatly; it left her stunned.
"Uh... don't think that was supposed to happen." She mumbled to herself, as she placed both hands on the lid and unlocked it. With a shove, it opened with a loud creaking sound like the hinges hadn't been oiled in years!
That was probably the case.
Inside she found just what she was expecting; Zephyr in pieces. Was he still... awake? Getting in closer to see if that were true not resulted in getting screamed at!
"Ah!" Julia shrieked out as she fell backward.
She could hear Zephyr laughing at her; he did that on purpose!
"Zephyr, you jack-wagon!" She kicked the box while she was still lying on the floor.
"Zephyr apologizes, the diamond child made herself an easy target!" He laughed again, enjoying his freedom for the most part. "But Zephyr is unsure how to put himself together now without the puppeteer's magic..."
"I could..." she slowly got up and dusted herself off "Give you a hand or two-" chuckling to herself as she grabbed his arms and looked at him.
"So that is how you wish to play, is it?" Zephyr said; Julia could feel the playful air about him now.
It was... a different take than the normal, death aura he held. Julia sort of likes this... granted, it'll take a lot of time to get used to the fact that Zephyr is free now and is not trying to kill her, which she still needs to remind herself of.
"I mean, I'd say pull yourself together, but that's not possible-" that's joke number two, how far can she go?
"Hush! Zephyr is trying to think of a pun!" He hissed out, thinking.
"Hey man, don't lose your head over it-" she couldn't keep a straight face after she finally pulled his head out of the box, a huge grin plastered on her face. Julia remembers when she made her first joke in this world- Lynn's face was glorious.
"Zephyr now has some respect for the diamond child, little for now, but it is there..." he whispered, looking at her.
Getting back to her task, the last parts that were taken out were his legs and finally torso, which had been bisected. Julia saw how many pieces he was cut into, but this was ridiculous up close. Some of the stuffing had fallen out and she did her best to line him up on the ground.
It seemed he really can't move when in so many pieces, normally Gabriele could still move even when his head was taken off. Guess you can only contact a certain amount of decapitated limbs... that's a thought.
"Right... try not to twitch much, Gabriele you guys still feel pain and such." Julia looked at Zephyr.
She could tell he was glancing at her, Zephyr had gone quiet for the moment. That worried her, but perhaps she'll be able to focus.
Steathee125: Thank you! Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this up and give Zephyr a proper redemption and still keep his lovable personality- And a super glad to hear you're enjoying my story! I'll do my best!
OPFan37: Yes, now that Allen and Zephyr's story is out of the way, I'll be able to continue with the plot. I believe the finale is coming up for the arc be for hitting the final arc that will be the Nyakuza metro. As I said, I hope I'll be able to give him a proper redemption: I will try and find a way to still make him a lunatic though, because that's just who he is-