Ch:5 Windows to the Soul
Everyone gathers at the entrance to Elsinore. Townsfolk lock eyes with the returnees, recognition dawning on their faces. People say son, daughter, mom and Dad then go to embrace each other. Quickly the whole area is filled with people crying, hugging and in disbelief.
"I can't believe it….Whitley?" Reyez says. He pushes past everyone to lay his hands on a heavily armored man's shoulder. His protection makes him look like a chunky sphere.
"No fricking way!" Bolin hurries off as well, giddy and with us following behind. "It's really you, the solo huntsman, Whitney Zaroff." He looks at the man talking with Reyez. When he notices us, he turns around drastically as if he was in combat. Once everyone got a clear look at his face, I think everyone thought the same thing. His hairline, well, there isn't any nice way to describe it. It looks like a staircase.
"Woah, what is up with–" Reese was about to say we were all thinking, but Bolin shuts her mouth.
"Wait. He's about to introduce himself." He whispers.
"It is I, Whitney Zaroff. Slayer of 1,567 Grimm."
"Is that accurate or something you came up with off the top of your head?" Arslan says, rolling her eyes at his statement. Bolin looks at her, saying her name between clenched teeth.
"You there." Whitney points his finger like a sword at Arslan. "You're strong. It would take at least 100 Grimm at once to take you down."
"Okay, you're close on that one."
"And you." Now his attention is on Bolin, who has stars in his eyes and is completely transfixed. "I can sic 20 bears at you and I bet you could evade them all."
"You know it sir."
"You!" He whips to Reese and notices the weapon on her back. "You fight with a skateboard?"
"A skateboard, pistols and my mad ability to style on haters. That's what I call Grimm."
"That lardy-dardy thing is completely unnecessary. A weapon only needs one form and one job. See this." He holds up a cat-o-nine tails that has spikes in it. "This is perfection."
Reese smacks her lips. "More like boring."
Now he looks at me, or should I say stares at me. "You might be the most dangerous game of them all." He whispers then turns to Nadir.
"You…" He stretches out the silence, keeping him in anticipation. I can see Nadir holding his breath, probably thinking of all the things Whitney would say. But Whitney just walks away leaving a crestfallen Nadir. "I have successfully brought back all of Elsinore's alive missing subjects."
"I knew it! Only you could do something this awesome Mr. Zaroff."
"Dang Bo, I didn't know you were this much of a fanboy."
"But I told you about him thousands of times."
"Yea, but I only listened once."
"I'm glad you were able to bring yourself back. After you left to make your new script, I grew worried that you were gone for six months. You never went away for that long before." Reyez says, his deep voice slightly cracking. He must be very glad his friend is back.
"The creative process is a long one Adrian, you know that. This one was especially long since I had an endeavor block my path."
"Writers block?" Reyez says.
"Never."
"Grimm to slay?"
"Hardly takes time."
"An ego to handle?"
"One as well kept as mine barely needs to." He stops in his step and pauses again. Seems to do that a lot. "I couldn't find my pen. That miserable little thing evaded me for months."
"A pen kept you away on your retreat for half a year?" Reyez held his eyebrows up in confusion.
"Yes. It's like losing your keys to your car and arriving six minutes late to work. Except this time, it's six months."
"Anyways, how did you do all this?" Arslan gestures to everyone in town who are making plenty of teary reunions. All of the talking they're doing is loud like a party.
"That's simple little firecracker. All I did was...a huntsman secret."
"Huh?"
"Buy my book on the CCT if you want to know all of the best hunting secrets." He strokes his goatee as he shows everyone his eBook. For something 200 pages long, the price of 100 lien is outrageous. "Adrian." He turns to the mayor. "I think this massive reunion deserves a celebration. Food, drink and some razzle dazzle."
"As much as I am over the hills about you and everyone returning Whitley, I'm sorry but we can't afford that. Now that there's more people here we'll have to ration our food even more."
"Would you really deny your people this memorable event? Just look at them." Over to our right, Whitley points to a family of four. Two parents have tears in their eyes, hugging their kids. Reunited friends are going over what happened to them while they were missing. This atmosphere is completely different than when I first came here. Before everyone looked defeated but now there's a spark of life. As if a dead winter farm just blossomed into spring. Mayor Reyez looks relieved seeing all of this, as if his exhaustion melted away. "If your wife were here would you go about your day as if she didn't come back to life?"
"No of course not. But it's...just not in the budget."
"If they don't have enough food then this certainly is not the time for a party." I feel a flush of anger at Ozpin's response.
"Can't you see how happy everyone is? How could you be so heartless?" When I say that everyone looks at me. Darn, I spoke too loudly. I didn't want everyone to hear me.
"I don't think it's being heartless. It's just logical." Arslan doesn't sound completely convinced when she says that.
"But a party can be the exact thing to kick everyone into high gear." Reese says.
"Better moods can lead to less Grimm attacks." Nadir says.
"The Adrian I know has a heart for his people." Whitley crosses his arms and scowls. "You, Monkey boy. How long have you worked for Adrian?" He directs his attention to Bolin.
"Yes, Zaroff sir! It has been a week so far, sir." Bolin says.
"In that week, how has he appeared to you as a mayor?"
"Pretty fair guy. He gives as much as he can to this town."
"So, when did he get replaced by this, impostor?" The way Whitley gestures and grimaces shows his distaste.
"Impostor?" Reyez says. He sighs, then repeats himself, "Sorry but…" A little girl pulls at his dress pants. She's sniveling and has big, wet eyes.
"Hey, mister. I really missed my parents. Can we please have a party?" She says. Around us, more people start to talk about how big of an occasion this is and that we need to celebrate. Our conversation spread to everyone in the town square in only seconds. Now more people are coming up to Reyez asking for tables, music, performers and food all for a party. Even some councilmen, their returning family members with them, went up to him with plans on how they could afford it. This completely wrecked any arguments he had left. I think this is going to be the last straw for him.
"Okay, we can have a small party."
Several hours later at the Twinkling Lounge, I'm at the biggest party I've ever seen. The pub is packed with people filling up on drinks. Everyone moves to the bumping beat of the dub-step music. The air around here is intoxicating, filled with different meats, veggies and alcohol I can't name. And this is just what is happening inside. I pull my head out of a basin of water. In my mouth there's something really hard in it, almost like stone. Random people give me a pat on the back.
"Oh he got a lucky one!"
"Here take this."
A person hands me a hammer. I say a muffled thanks, then take the oval object out of my mouth. "What do you want me to do with this?"
"You're supposed to crack it open." Reyez says. He's laying back on the couch with several women around him. His face is as red as the apples he's eating.
"Okay." I shrug then place the object down on the ground. I swing on it but not a dent is made.
"Harder."
I put all my weight into it, nothing.
"Hit it like it stole your lien."
Now I pull out my cane to get serious. "Okay you round...thing. I hope you're ready to get cracked." I hope that sounded cool; it took me too long to think of it. I jump off a nearby table then raise my cane high, slamming down on it with all of my force, finally cracking it. A gush of juice comes out, splattering on the floor like rain. Everyone around me gives a rousing applause.
"Wait, this is a fruit? I've never seen a fruit like this. And these seeds." I pick one from the bunch. All of them are different colors like a rainbow.
"Go ahead, try it. You deserve it for that form."
I chew on it. The flavor is strong, and sweet as if I just had a mouthful of sugar. "Wow, that's a seed right? How can it be so strong?"
"That's our roulette fruit. Take another bite and see if you're still calling it sweet." Reyez says. I do that and taste something spicy. Then another one is tangy. After that it's...barbeque sauce?
"Woah, you grow these?" I say, looking at all the different seeds.
"It's our local delicacy. Although lately we haven't been able to grow too much." Reyez's smile drops. He looks away and rubs the back of his head. His friend Whitley plops an arm on his shoulders.
"Ya workaholic, we're supposed to be partying. not talking about work." He takes his drink and pours it down Reyez's throat. He pushes him away, laughing.
"You're right, I should get another round."
"Actually, he should save all of this." Ozpin says. He's been ruining my mood since the party started. It's getting annoying now.
"We're just trying to have fun." I whisper, trying not to draw attention to myself.
"I understand your want to relax, especially after all that has happened. but we agreed to help this town. All of this is not helping, especially when there's a food shortage."
I know this conversation won't end here. I walk outside, taking my fruit with me. Bolin and Reese are playing Realm Chaser with the town's folk. Bolin is dipping and diving through everyone trying to grab the ball from him. Nadir is reading and Arslan is guarding the town, like she said she would.
I go to an alley and make sure no one is around. "What's wrong now Ozpin? The councilmen said they can afford this with their budget. Are you trying to take fun away from me too?" I say, scowling.
"There is a time and a place for everything and this isn't it. I'm surprised Reyez would agree to all of this."
"What's so bad about celebrating your missing people coming back?"
"It's bad when they won't be able to eat tomorrow." Ozpin's voice is getting louder now.
"I'm sure he has a plan."
"His plan is us Oscar, that's all he has."
"No you're wrong!" I yell, waiting for Ozpin's response but he's quiet. Then I realize we're not alone. Lily stands at the entrance to the alley.
"Oh hi, am I interrupting something?"
"No, uh nothing. I was just uhh, did you hear all of that?" She nods. Great, she probably thinks I'm crazy talking to myself in an alley. Honestly, I can agree.
"But only half of it." She steps in closer.
"Excuse me?"
I didn't get to hear your other half." She walks up to me and places her small hand on my chest. She keeps her lilac eyes centered on me. I can't help but blush. Then her eyes start to glow.
"Is that your semblance?"
She smiles, then looks straight at me, our heights match. "Yes, I'm able to see people's souls. And I can see you have two in here."
"I've certainly haven't seen this ability in a while." Ozpin says. My heart skips a beat, several in fact. I feel so excited I could die. Lily can see into my soul so she can tell me if the split is possible.
"Did your other self say something? He just got all wiggly for a sec."
"Yes!" I blurt. "You can tell even that?
"I can see what someone's semblance is as well. I know you haven't unlocked yours yet, but I can tell from the look of it that you will have a great one. A green ember and a roaring flame." She takes her hand off of me. "You and the other huntsmen's souls look so different from everyone else here." She takes a closer look at me. "Are you okay?"
"Did my soul get wiggly?"
"It looks like it's dancing."
Is my soul linked to my emotions? I definitely feel a weird mix of excitement, anticipation, nervousness and embarrassment. I take a deep breath, then ask her what I'm thinking. "Do you know if I can split from this other soul in me?"
Lily arches her eyebrows. I think she's concerned. Did I ask that too strongly? Does my face look too desperate? I back off then stare at the ground. Looking people in the eyes sometimes is too much. Especially when they glow.
"I wouldn't know. I've never seen a person with two souls."
"Yea, I should have figured." I sit down on the ground.
"But I'm sure it's possible." She says hurriedly, sitting down next to me. "Why would you want to do that? How did you get another soul in the first place?"
"Well... " I look away from her, trying to think of where to start. Or where I could start. Telling her that I have a millennium old wizard that has a mission to save the world from his immortal ex-wife feels a bit too much. Saying anything less wouldn't be enough though.
"Tell her it's my semblance. That should suffice." Ozpin says.
"She won't buy that." I think.
"You're talking to yourself; I can see it."
"Let's just say...I'm trying to get rid of this other soul. He's wrapping me up in something way bigger than myself."
"You want to get rid of part of your soul?"
"He's not a part of me. He forced his way into my body without me getting any say." I say that more forcibly than what I meant to. Luckily, Lily doesn't seem scared. She still has her smile on.
"But I can see both of your souls tied together at the ends." That's impossible. I've been trying to resist since we were separated from everyone else. How are we still connected? This will take longer than I thought. "it sounds like you were pulled into something you didn't want a part of and now you're mad that your other self isn't giving you a choice."
"Yeah, that's right." I feel laid bare before her. The stress I was feeling up until this point dissolved. Lily must have a lot of experience talking to people about their troubles.
"But it looks like you want to be a part of the bigger thing."
"Huh?" I look away from the dirt spot I was staring at to her. Her comment threw me off.
"I heard that you agreed to help out our town. For someone who says he doesn't want to be wrapped up in something bigger than himself, you sure picked the wrong town to help." Lily opens up her arms, reminding me how big the building next to us is. All the thousands of people in town, and I'm just 1 of five meant to protect it.
"The other soul in me didn't want to. He wants to get back with our other group so we can continue that mission. It made me so mad that I decided to help without even thinking." I realize what I implied then try to quickly take it back. "Not that I don't want to help, it's just that it really didn't feel like my decision at that point.
"It's always your own decision. No one can ever take that away from you."
"But I…" I didn't get to finish what I was going to say because a ball hits my face! "Ow" I yell, rubbing my nose. Reese comes barreling in catching the ball.
"Sorry, I totally miss that pass from Bolin." Reese says, then she starts to grin. "Did I just interrupt–"
"No!" Lily and I say. We both mutter off excuses on where we have to go then walk out of the alley separately. Reese really knows how to make things awkward. I would have kept thinking on that moment if the sound of searing flames didn't interrupt my thoughts.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I actually intended for Whitney Zaroff to be two characters. But when I was making the outline for this story, I found that I didn't have the other character used as often. So I fused them together to make this cocky gent.
Please leave a review if you feel up to it. I pick out the sexiest looking one and treat it to a nice dinner of pop-tarts, oddly soggy Great Value chips and a glass of orange juice. The perfect date.