In this chapter, I took the liberty of partially forwarding a plot, so I think it's not quite as fun at the one before and after it. Don't worry; #3 is a charmer.
The crazy person who typed these letter lacks the enthusiasm, money, or ultimate power to steal D. Gray-Man from it's rightful owner, and therefore still does not own it.
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"She's late again!!" The small child crossed her arms and pouted. Her golden locks were tossed around her upset head. The lower lip on her pretty, young face stuck out dramatically. "Why is Demi always late?"
The boy next to her, with long, dark, unkempt hair grumbled and stared at his stomach. "Stupid Demigod is always off doing something. We should just eat without her! I'm starving!!"
"We are not eating without her!" The third of the company glared across the table at the younger boy. He crossed his arms and glared, his short, dirt-colored hair seeming to stick up in irritation. "I'm just as hungry as you are, but we need to wait."
The girl smoothed out her dress. "Maybe we should start. I mean, do you remember what she told us? About if something ever happened to her?" But she couldn't bring herself to complete that thought. She started choking on her tears, which had been started up from nothing but pure Idea.
"Oh no, not again! Quit crying! Demi can take care of herself! We just have to sit here and stare at the food and wait while she finished 'taking care of herself'." The middle-child groaned. "Where is she?!"
A tired, old hound-dog that had been laying patiently under the table began to bark with excitement. He ran out from under the table and stared at the door, still yelling.
"It's about time," the younger boy said as he got down and opened the door.
Standing nonchalantly in the entry was a girl with bright-red hair. She brushed off her winged top hat while clearing her voice. "I couldn't help but notice the conversation was leaning towards all of you forgetting me.
"How rude," she huffed. "Even after I went through the trouble of stopping by the trading post and selling some new finds! You should be happy that all of you are going to be eating good meals for a few months!" She tossed an envelope onto the table. It sat happily next to the warm pot of soup. "Tomorrow the three of you can get groceries and just about anything else you need."
Their eyes were fixated on the little gift. "Wow! You mean it Demi?! You don't need anything out of it?"
She smiled and rolled her eyes. "What good would it do me? I'm too busy trying to convince the bumblebees that it's a good time to surrender to the marshmallow people to eat that good!!"
"… Alrighty then," the oldest boy said. "And how is that working out for you?"
"Terrible," she sighed. "Those stripy little whelps don't know when to give up. The next battle will finish them off for sure. And then when the rabbitsmove into their territory," she made a disgusted face, going over to sit at the table. "Well, let's just say that getting through the forest won't be so easy."
"Really? I thought they only wanted to get over to the coastal lands?" The girl put a tiny finger to her lip.
"Nope. They're out to dominate all of Unreality, I tell you! Those things will stop at nothing to do away with us all!!" She nodded to herself, grabbing for the soup ladle. "But enough with my day! What did you three do?"
"Um… I caught a frog," the oldest said with a shrug.
"Excellent, Samuel! Was it a nice frog?"
"No. It peed on my hand."
Maria-Mandy laughed. "They'll do that. How about you David?"
"Some of the other kids from town and I played tag in the old warehouse. It was fun."
"Very fun! I'm a little jealous, to be honest! And what did Miss Abigail do today?"
"I… I.. um… I made the soup!!"
"And I certainly can't wait to try it!" Maria-Mandy put the spoon into the broth, blowing gently. Everybody watched in concern as she took the first sip. "It's very good," the girl nodded. "You did a great job." Everybody sighed in relief. While the children reached to get their helping, Maria-Mandy peered under the table. "Hello George," she said, winking at the dog. He wagged his wiry tail and licked his lips. Somehow, a good helping of soup had made its way down into his food bowl. "Well, it seems that you're somebody's favorite today."
David tried to sink down below the table and hide. "I just thought he looked hungry! That's all!"
The woman nodded. "I think I can let it slide. After all, George is very happy about it."
"Miss Demi," Clarence whispered. "You don't think he'll find us, do you?"
"… 'He' who?"
"You know…!" His voice lowered and he tried to be even more silent. "That… Exorcist."
Abigail dropped her soup spoon. Samuel spit out the food he had in his mouth. David shot up from under the table and stared at Maria-Mandy in horror. Even George seemed tensed.
She sighed at the attention. "Settle down. It was one instance half-way across the country."
Abigail gulped. "They're not going to come here, are they?! Oh no! NO NO NO NO NO!!!" She started wailing and moaning and flapping her arms like a bird.
"Oh good grief! Do you ever quit crying?!" David rubbed his temples. "They won't find us!"
"They won't, will they, Demi?" Samuel, trying to keep a level head, stared at the girl for a few moments. "You won't let them take us away, will you?"
"Nah." Maria-Mandy flicked some crumbs across the table lazily while she waited for Abigail to stop crying. "Besides, even if they did find all of you, it's not like you couldn't fight them off. You three might be kids, but you could take on anybody… if you needed to."
"You think?" David's eyes shined with the idea of battle.
"Absolutely! When you're old enough, you three are going to have to help with the War on Rabbits. We'd win easy-peasy if you were there!!"
But Samuel seemed unconvinced by her speech. "You won't let them get here, will you, Demi?"
She nodded her head and drew a cross over her chest. "As sure as I'm a member of the Demigod Organization. Nobody's going to hurt the three of you ever again, as long as I live, alright?"
They all nodded. George barked and wagged his tail.
"Er… right… Three and a half?"
George whined.
"Fine then. Four." She shook some dust from her hair. "By the way, has anybody seen my club? The gnomes are out again."
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"I'm telling you! There was this crazy girl with a flying hat! She took the Innocence and disappeared!!"
Komui, Reever, and several other scientists in the room gave Allen a bewildered look. Of course, there were some who just seemed annoyed. His nonsense was keeping them from their mountains of paper work.
"I'm not lying!! She really was there! I swear it!!"
"Allen, I think that maybe you were the one who hit your head."
"Reever, do you think I ought to walk him down to the infirmary?"
"I didn't hit my head!! And I'm not insane either!! There was a girl there, I swear there was!!"
Komui sighed. "Allen, if you couldn't find the Innocence, you could just say that. There's no need to make up stories."
"I didn't make anything up! Come on Komui! You have to believe me!!"
Reever cleared his throat. He whispered in the Head Officer's ear. "Sir, what do you think the chances are that the old house had harmful chemicals in it?"
"It's likely…"
The man nodded. "I'll get him to Matron."
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ERB: Hello everybody!!I'm glad that you read this far! The middle part of this chapter hasn't been properly reviewed by my "helper", so it's still up for argument. I hope you enjoyed this story so far. As always, suggestions, some criticism, and telling me what you liked is appreciated.
Maria-Mandy:Indeed it is! I do hope that all of you will continue to read this story! Ah... Excuse me, Miss Author Lady, you wouldn't happen to know how I get back to the Cucumber Patch, would you? Those pesky slugs could use a good thrashing with the old pitchfork, you know.
ERB:... Sure. ANYHOW!! Join us later when flying monkeys somehow get involved!!
Maria-Mandy:Yes! And they were not even plagiarized this time. You ought to be quite proud of that feat. Ah yes. One more thing I should remind you... PRESS THE BUTTON. Thank you.