7. Relm Writes
"But Grandpa! I gotta help save the world!" Relm pouted as her grandfather stared at her sternly. The old man shook his head.
"Just because we're helping them out does not give you the right to neglect your studies. And no one is going anywhere right now anyway," he added when she gave a disbelieving look. He sighed as she grumbled to herself, hunching her shoulders and crossing her arms. He motioned to the stack of paper in front of her.
"Practice your penmanship, Relm." She huffed again, but readied a sheet of paper all the same. Strago smiled and wandered over to a nearby chair. Settling into it, he extracted a book from the folds of his cloak and began to read.
A tickling sensation on the elderly man's toes caused him to start and direct his focus to his feet. Two odd-looking creatures were teetering precariously on the edges of either foot. Abandoning his book, Strago snatched one of them up. Upon closer examination, it looked to be a lowercase "h" with small, cat-like paws and two beady eyes on top. He stared in confusion for a moment, before lifting his other foot up to study the second one. A small "s" stared back at him.
"Relm!" He shook the living letters off before hurrying over to his granddaughter.
"What on earth do you think..." he paused to watch an "o" that had tripped roll across the table.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?!" Relm grinned up at the old man.
"Practicing my penmanship!" Before Strago could begin his lecture, he heard a commotion in the next room. Shuffling quickly to the door, he opened it only to be greeted with utter chaos.
Edgar swatted at a swarm of b's that were hovering over his head, while Locke was trying desperately to remove the vicious looking "w" that was biting his arm; Gau was chasing after a group of d's, and Setzer was picking the rogue k's, q's, and j's out of his card deck; Shadow threatened a capital "A" with his shuriken as Interceptor barked at the "z" that was teasing him; Terra was biting her lip, examining what looked to be a crushed "x" while Celes nudged it with her foot; Sabin was squishing one "g" after another, and Cyan almost choked on the "t" that was in his cup; Gogo was mimicking Mog, who busily danced around a group of m's, while Umaro tried to pick various letters out of his hair. Everyone looked at Relm, some annoyed, others amused, a few indifferent. Strago, however, was angry.
"I just don't understand why you can't take your studies seriously, child!" he fumed as Relm stared at the floor. He felt something crawling up his sleeve.
"Oh, you!" he shouted angrily. Pulling it out, he found that it was another letter. Indeed a "u" blinked back at him. He chuckled slightly at his unintentional joke. Relm looked up in surprise. Noticing what her grandfather was holding, she too began to laugh. Soon, everyone was either laughing or smiling at the sheer lunacy of the situation.
Strago patted his granddaughter on the head, and she beamed up at him. Her smile quickly spun around when he retrieved a plain fountain pen from his cloak and offered it to her.
"Now, go finish your work."
"Aw, Grandpa!"
Author's Note: I just have to say that this one was a lot of fun to write. It's probably my favorite chapter so far.
Thank-you for your time~!