*Chapter 12*
With a heavy heart, Tessa lightly stepped into the grand, great hall of her castle. Her dull eyes scanned her dark surroundings, the sound of gentle patter of cold rain hit every single speckled tile of the castle's top. Lightning from far beyond their acres of land could be seen dancing around in the midnight, storm riddled sky. Tessa's eyes adjusted to the flickering light that gave her a sense of surrounding in the vastness. As soon as she felt she had her bearings, she gently pressed on; the dark tiles of the hall seemed to mock and taunt her to continue onward. She inhaled a sharp sniffle and tried her hardest to remain quiet. She lugged her small runaway backpack over her shoulders, as if she were prepared to begin running at any given moment.
The hall seemed endless, Tessa's eyes began to make their own shapes and shadows towards the massive, looming front door of her castle. She squinted her eyes, as if to scold her brain for letting her darkening imagination run away from her. She furrowed her eyebrows in deepening frustration and felt her heart pound in a sore, broken way. She shook her head and wondered if she was possibly doing the right thing; game jumping, she knew, was serious business, and was really only something turbo-riddened, dead end fools only desired. She long blinked a few times to rid of her imaginary demons in the distance, she knew she'd only be gone for a short while; in the midsts of attempting to comfort herself, she found that grasping for the silver lining was beginning to look more and more daunting.
As she came to the front doors of the castle, she noticed a particular shadow that wasn't vanishing with her firm, demanding blinks. She largely furrowed her eyebrows and felt her heart jolt clear out of her chest as this figure moved and crossed it's arms. As lightning largely struck nearby, followed by a core shaking roll of thunder, Tessa was stunned to see her white haired aunt standing in poised readiness, an air of disappointment and mischief riddled Taffyta's face. In the split seconds of flashed time that Tessa had for her eyes to even register anything, she jumped and yelped a quiet noise of fear.
"Going somewhere?" Taffyta wondered softly, her voice was stern and deep. Tessa immediately felt her blood boil.
"You scared the shit out of me," Tessa hissed in a rush, though she felt her heart drop yet again in another squeeze of fear.
"Nice language you have, there," Taffyta chimed, her voice still held it's stern tone, though she couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape her chest.
"I learned from the best," Tessa retorted; she knew she had no reason to get snappy with her aunt Taffyta, though the adrenaline rush of fear still clung onto her veins; the heightened fight or flight response remained frozen in time.
"Sneaking out, aren't we?" Taffyta smiled as she finally pulled out Vanellope's digital pad from behind her back. She pushed the home button on the bottom of the pad, causing the screen to illuminate both of them in a gentle, blue glow; Tessa squinted.
"Not like anyone would care," Tessa grumbled as her eyes glanced at her escape, she wondered if rushing past Taffyta at this point would work or not.
"Well," Taffyta heaved a hard, annoyed sigh and slumped her shoulders, "The fact that I'm out of bed at this hour of the morning to stop your sorry hide, from doing something stupid, should tell you that your aunt Taffyta most definitely cares."
Tessa eyed her aunt in an annoyed, defeated way. She finally looked down to the tiles and opened her mouth to speak, though Taffyta cut her off.
"Where you headed?" Taffyta said in a neutral tone, almost as if to suggest she was alright with Tessa's secret venture; Tessa curiously eyed her.
"What's it to you?" Tessa mumbled, "Not like it matters where I go, I'm not going to Academy anymore, so what's the point of staying here where I'm unhappy?"
"You heard that, didn't you," Taffyta said through a small sigh, Tessa glared at her aunt.
"'Course I heard," Tessa hissed darkly, "I have ears, y'know. You guys may not think I'm a suitable heir to the throne, but I'm quicker than you all think. I'm sure my dumb appearance is quite tricky to navigate."
"You don't have a dumb appearance, Tess," Taffyta half chuckled and shook her head, her heart lightly swelled at the thought of Tessa's equally as bumbling father, "Did Vanellope talk with you already?"
"No," Tessa glowered, "I avoided her and dad tonight at all costs."
"And now you're leaving?" Taffyta wondered. Tessa gestured her arm outward.
"Is it not obvious?" Tessa barked quietly, she knew the walls of the great hall clung onto any decibel of voice it could get it's tiles on.
"It is," Taffyta chuckled as she crossed her arms, "You game jumping?"
"Why? You gunna stop me?" Tessa urged gently, though she slowly began to plot her agile footwork so she could be closer to the door.
"Depends," Taffyta chimed slyly with a tired smile.
"On what," Tessa breathed in annoyance.
"On if you're staying in the game or not," Taffyta retorted.
"You really believe I'm going to stay in this game, where you guys can teleport me back to the castle with a one swiped finger command in the code room?" Tessa beamed an amused smile, "Don't make me laugh."
"I don't intend to," Taffyta snapped to her young niece, she could tell by the sudden, startled look in Tessa's eyes that it was clear she had never really seen the motherly side of Taffyta, "I DO, however, intend to find out where you're going and why."
"I-I'm just going out," Tessa urged under her breath, "I just want to sit in Game Central Station and clear my head."
"Well isn't that just the biggest heap of bull-hockey I've ever seen in my entire life," Taffyta beamed a wide smile and leaned forward more into Tessa's face for emphasis.
"I'll be with a friend," Tessa complained as she slumped her arms, though she could tell by the sudden twinkle in Taffyta's eyes that she was potentially digging herself a deeper grave.
"A friend?" Taffyta beamed, "A certain Zaney friend?"
"Aunt Taffyta," Tessa sighed.
"You're going to Dead Zed?" Taffyta beamed curiously, "For what exactly?"
"I just need to clear my head," Tessa urged as she gestured her hands upwards, "It's not like it matters anyways, I'm being held back in Academy anyways… Why does anyone care?"
"Game jumping may seem like it's a fun thrill, but it comes with consequences," Taffyta started deeply as she took a step closer to Tessa, she loomed over her niece lightly and made sure it was clear that she was the dominant figure in the room, "You ever know what it feels like to come within a literal inch of your life, outside of your game? You wanna know what it feels like to be depleted of energy and be no where near your own power source?"
"Aunt Taff," Tessa started nervously.
"You wanna jump head first into Dead Zed, a game with one of the most fiercest environments in this whole User forsaken arcade? Where wild animals are plenty and the jungle constantly shape-shifts and changes?" Taffyta urged as she stepped closer to Tessa, though Tessa eagerly stepped backwards and away; Taffyta's plan to get her away from the front door worked to her liking, "You want to throw away what all of us top dogs, here at Sugar Rush, have worked so hard to gain, for YOU, just so you can somehow prove to us that you're smarter and wiser than our decision making?"
"I-I," Tessa stammered nervously as her confidence easily dwindled right before Taffyta's eyes.
"If you're selfish enough, and if you want to scare the shit out of every single last sprinkle in Sugar Rush, then by all means," Taffyta raised her arms and hands in the air in a quick, defensive manner before she largely stepped aside and gestured towards the massive, beckoning doors of their castle, "Go Turbo."
Tessa swallowed hard and gazed at the large, solid doors that flickered creepily with the lightning to match. She finally heaved a hard sigh and looked away, she tried her hardest to avoid eye contact with her aunt. As much as her heart yearned to be torn away from the prison that kept her, her feet remained planted to the tiles that she called home.
"If you want to undo all of mine, Uncle Rancis's, Ralph's and Vanellope's sacrificial hard work, then be my guest," Taffyta snapped in a deep tone, though she tried not to scare her young niece too much. Tessa curiously eyed her.
"I'm not leaving," Tessa finally revealed, "Though I don't want to talk to any one of you ever again."
"Real mature, Tess," Taffyta said in a dull tone, Tessa rolled her eyes.
"I just don't know why you guys think holding me back in Academy is the right thing to do," Tessa muttered, though she flinched once her aunt tensed into action yet again.
"You wanna know why?" Taffyta said in a surprisingly louder tone as she flung her arm outwards, "It's because of stunts like this that you decide to pull. Academy is a rough place, and if you don't have all of your sprinkles in order, you will be eaten alive."
"How would you know?" Tessa challenged, though she immediately felt two inches tall once Taffyta's glare worsened, and her height seemed to gain.
"Because I have been in this Arcade for two decades longer than you," Taffyta urged deeply, she crossed her arms and gazed at her niece in pure confusion, "Why would you want to throw your whole life away? Just for short term, angry feelings that can be solved by just talking about it?"
"Mom doesn't listen to me," Tessa spat.
"Well I will!" Taffyta urged as she finally grabbed her young niece's shoulders, "Tess, you know I'm always here for you. Running away isn't something that will make your problems vanish."
"I just hate all these restrictions on me," Tessa urged as tears welled in her eyes, the feeling of comforting touch on her skin made her heart finally soften.
"You need to focus on what's important," Taffyta urged as she squeezed Tessa's arms a little harder, "If you're not careful, you could lose your life… Forever… A life that all of us fought so valiantly to save and protect."
"What is with the whole 'we saved you' and 'Rancis sacrificed himself' for me deal?" Tessa urged loudly, "I don't hear any of this nonsense directed towards Penny or Oliver."
"Because they are happy to be home," Taffyta said gently as she pleadingly gazed into Tessa's eyes.
"I just need new scenery," Tessa said softly, Taffyta curiously furrowed her eyebrows before she finally heaved a hard sigh and slumped her shoulders. She figured pressing the conversation further wasn't going to solve anything. After a long bout of silence, Taffyta finally let her eyes meet Tessa's once and for all.
"I will let you go to Dead Zed, under one condition," Taffyta finally eased, she could see the hope come flooding back to Tessa's eyes, "I will go with you, and we will go on the closed arcade day, this Sunday."
"Fine," Tessa agreed in a mutter, she figured it was the best she was going to get, "All I want is to just explore Zane's world and get a feel for the Arcade… I never wanted to actually game jump and go Turbo."
"You may have good intentions," Taffyta stated as she held up a finger, "But leaving your game is not something to take lightly… Especially if you're only just getting your bearings in this game, let alone Arcade."
"Maybe one day I'll be able to not have a baby sitter," Tessa retorted in an annoyed manner, though Taffyta furrowed her eyebrows and beamed a wide smile.
"Yeah, maybe one day when you get your act together," She laughed lightly, which caused Tessa's glower to worsen; Taffyta motioned towards the staircase from which Tessa had crawled down and lightly nudged her in that direction, "Now… Back to bed. We'll discuss our trip to Dead Zed tomorrow."
"I'm sure mom won't like that idea," Tessa rolled her eyes.
"Exactly why we're not telling her," Taffyta urged deeply as she gazed straight into her niece's soul, Tessa gazed back at her aunt in stunned surprise and lightly raised her eyebrows. Taffyta finally motioned her head towards the awaiting staircase and finalized this meeting with a quiet whisper, "Upstairs."