Chapter 36: Thank You And Goodnight

"Is this really necessary, big guy?"

I rolled my eye before turning around to face Ren. She had decided to follow me as I was carrying my things to another room, which was further down the corridor.

"What's the problem?"

"You're the problem!" She exclaimed. "I know we gave you a hard time yesterday, but you don't have to do this!"

I was tempted to start shouting back at her. But I realized that was a bad idea, and bit down on my lip before giving her yet another explanation on why I was doing this.

"Look, I'm not mad at you guys." I said calmly (at the moment, that is.) "This has nothing to do with it. I just…."

I scratched my head uncomfortable. "I need a few nights to myself. Ok?"

Ren stared blankly at me for a moment. Then came one of her classic "I know what's going on" smiles.

"Ooooh. I see how it is." She whispered coyly. Next thing I know, she's whispering into my ear.

"Is your little friend feeling a little lonely?" (Nah, I'm good.)

I immediately grabbed her by the feet and held her upside down. But I quickly remembered she was wearing a skirt and released her just as quickly.

"What was that about!?" She shouted. More surprised than anything else.

"Punishment." I answered flatly, before turning around and continuing my way to my destination.

I was thankful that Ren decided to leave me alone after that. What I wasn't thankful for, was seeing Magenta waiting for me outside the door.

I had taken every possible precaution to avoid having any alone time with her after our little chat. When I asked Amelia for a room of my own, I took the key right away. And when she asked me if I wanted my things taken to the new room, I said "No thanks. I can handle it." But there she was. Waiting for me.

"I have prepared you your room, sir." Magenta greeted in her usual tone.

"Ah. Thanks." I responded awkwardly.

Rather than wait for things to get awkward, I put my things down and stepped forward to open the door (good call.) But as I did this, Magenta went to pick my stuff up, and it looked as though she was going to follow me into my room (shit!)

"Oh! You don't have to do that for me!" I said assertively. Pulling my things out of her hands before she could protest.

"Are you sure there's…."

"No, no. That should be all, thank you. Goodnight!"

I closed the door shut behind me. And I was finally alone.

It was really weird. The room was just about identical to the last one. Well, subtracting Ren and Amina from the equation.

"….Amina." I found myself saying out loud.

The girls seemed a little surprised when I told them I was going to sleep alone for the remainder of our stay here. Ren, unsurprisingly, was quick to complain about it. But Amina, very surprisingly, took it rather well.

She actually seemed to be in a really good today.

She didn't glare at me when Cinnamon served me my breakfast in the shape of a love heart (lame.)

She left me alone when I headed to the library to read some books (nerd!)

The late afternoon was spent with the three of us playing a board game called snakes and ladders (god, your killing me.)

We even had a peaceful soak in the bath. Nothing cheesy. Nothing awkward or intimate. We just relaxed, and enjoyed each other's company (I'm gonna hurl!)

Ren decided to wait until I was packing my things before asking me any questions. Which I was thankful for. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to look Amina in the face.

She didn't seem that upset though! She even wished me a good night with a tender smile before I had left.

An uncomfortable thought began to form in my mind. Was Amina pretending to be ok? Was I actually being a little harsh? I wasn't trying to be. I just didn't like the idea of being around them with this weird shit going on.

But then a new idea came along. Maybe she was thinking the same thing Ren was. Do they talk about that sort of stuff when I'm not around?

Such a horrible thought shook me back to my senses.

"Pull yourself together mate." I muttered to myself.

"You need to figure this shit out."

(You mean masturbating?)

"Shut up."

(Hee-hee!)

Stripping down to my breeches, I sat myself down onto the bed. By now, the sun had well and truly gone down. A candle on the bedside table was already lit. Giving the room a warm, homely glow.

I was already tempted to turn in for the night. But I needed to use the time I had to figure out what was wrong with me, and how to fix it.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what I was doing ( have you tried rubbing it?)

The Orc librarian (still don't know her name) was a little surprised when I asked her for books on curses. I told her it was just a hobby, but I'm not sure she really believed me (how strange, that is.)

In any case, she provided me a good number of books on such matters. But Most of them were just story books that told tales of people suffering from things that ranged from having continuous hiccupping, to spending an eternity with maggots eating their insides.

A few of them explained how such curses can be inflicted, and eventually cured. But so far, none of them matched my own symptoms. Sadly, I wasn't allowed to take any of the books outside of the library (house rules,) otherwise, I would have spent the entire night going through them all.

After some careful consideration, I decided I would be better off turning in for the night, continuing my studies tomorrow. My only concern was that Ren and Amina would get in my way. How right I was.

It was the crack of dawn when I got up the next morning. This meant the kitchens, and soon the library, would be open again.

Pulling my clothes back on, I made my way to the door and opened it.

"Sweetie!" Amina squealed.

"Big Guy!" Ren Cheered.

"Huh?" Was all I could get out before being knocked to the ground.

Amina wrapped her freakishly strong arms around my neck. Nuzzling her face against one of my cheeks.

Ren was on the other. Tickling it with kisses that felt like little rain drops.

"You guys are up unusually early." I said awkwardly.

"We missed you." Amina explained as she continued to cling to my clothes.

"Yeah! We missed you!" Ren said in agreement.

I continued to lie on the ground. Waiting patiently for my friends to get off me.

Five minutes go by.

"You guys done yet?" I asked them expectantly.

"Nope!" They shouted in unison.

Ten minutes.

"How about now?"

"Not yet!"

Fifteen minutes.

"Alright, I'm getting hungry."

I tried to pull myself up. But the girls (mostly Amina) easily pulled me back down again.

"Nooooo! We're not finished yet!"

"Just a little longer!"

Another ten minuets went by before those two finally decided to let me go. But my problems were far from over.

At breakfast, Ren sat on my shoulder. Munching way at her bacon rather loudly in my ear. But Amina. Amina had set herself up so she was squished right up next to me. And she insisted on feeding me, and wiping my own mouth as though I were a fracking child!

Once that was finally over, the two of them dragged me outside for some fresh air. The weather was still pretty bad. And the road was essentially a giant mud pit. But it wasn't as cold and windy as it was earlier. Indicating that the storm had just about passed over. Autumn was officially here.

I was just about ready to go back inside to do some more reading, when Ren suddenly came up the brilliant idea of starting a mud fight. I had work to do. But there was no way I wasn't going to walk away after taking a direct hit to the face by that rotten little Fairy.

It was actually a lot of fun. And all it took was one poorly aimed ball of mud to get Amina involved too (so glad you have your priorities sorted.)

Then we had a mud castle competition. Amina and I did a good job building our little mud towers. But Ren was the clear winner. Using her tiny little hands, she created an amazing replica of the castle back in Vila.

Looking at her masterpiece made me think back to our time in the Fairy Kingdom.

We were there for about two weeks, now that I think about it. And I'll never forget it. Being dragged into a failed coup. Duelling with Fidelis. Being taken prisoner. Rescuing Yusha from those Werebats. The encounter with Freyja. The reunions and celebrations in the end. But most importantly, the friends I had made along the way (good times, good times.)

It was only when Ren started to sneeze, that we decided to head back inside. After apologizing repeatedly to Magenta for the mud we were tracking on the carpet, we headed upstairs and had a warm bath.

Only when I had gotten out of the water, was I finally able to break away from my companions to do some much-needed reading. After a few hours of fruitless searching, I finally gave up to have some dinner.

Amina noticed something was wrong when we ate. But I still didn't want either of them to know what was going on, and simply said "I'm just a little tired."

Ren tried again that night to coax me into joining them in their room. I declined. But chose to give them both a good night hug before leaving. I finally realized that they thought they were neglecting me. Which was why they were giving me so much unwanted attention today (those little angels!)

I knew I was running out of time. The weather wasn't going to improve any more than it had already for quite some time. And I considered my stupid brother to be a greater concern than some curse that may not even be that bad of a thing!

This was going to be our last day here, and I was going to make it count.

I just about swallowed my breakfast whole before bolting for the library. Ignoring Ren's protests as I did so.

One disappointing book after another, I searched, and searched, all bloody afternoon, and was having no luck at all!

Amina came to visit me when it was about time for lunch, but I told her I wasn't hungry. Then Ren came by a bit later to see what I was doing. Sitting over my shoulder as I scanned every single page for every meticulous detail I could find.

"Why are you reading so many books on curses?" She asked me. Her tone heavy with suspicion.

"Because I like curse." I answered flatly. Refusing to be distracted by her.

"Oh. Ok then." She responded in an unassuming manner.

"Is that why you were so excited about coming here?"

"Yep."

"Seeing as Ghost's and Demons are well known for cursing people."

"Yep."

"I bet there's a whole bunch of cursed Ghost's in this place!"

"Yep."

The next five minutes were rather quiet.

And the it happened. Ren's words. They suddenly hit me. So hard, in fact, I launched myself into the air and screamed "GHOST'S!"

Ren screamed as she flew off my shoulder. And nearby, I could hear the sound of a pig squealing, followed by a dozen books hitting the ground.

"What's up with you all of a sudden!?" Ren shouted angrily.

I grabbed a hold of Ren and hugged her to my chest.

"Ren, you're a genius!" I shouted proudly

"W-well, yeah! Of course I am!" She exclaimed. Unable to stop herself from blushing (so cute!)

I quickly let her go and headed for the door.

"Wait! Where are you….oh, whatever."