Grit
Chapter 1
One step after the other until the end.
A step over the bodies of those who sacrificed everything to get here.
A step towards the man that called himself a god lay just a step away.
All I can do in the end is walk forward to mutually assured death.
My body trembles while fighting against indescribable pain from smashed bones and open wounds.
The weapon in my hand screams and shakes to slake its desire for destruction while shredding my body and soul into nothingness.
I notice movement out of the corner of my eye.
She is lying there with her arm stretched out and her mouth set into a silent scream, begging me not to leave her behind.
Looking at her, I can only think of the sweet memories we created of better times.
But only one final step is required to end it all. To finally end the madness and anguish.
As my foot rises, I see everything flash before my eyes.
All of my life.
The pain.
The joy.
I step towards the god.
The misery.
The hope.
I struggle to raise my arms over my head, ignoring the screams from my body and from behind me.
The hate.
The love.
I swing down.
A life well lived.
And the whole world goes white.
Has anyone ever eaten a cloud? They sure look edible.
I gazed in wonder at the sky above me and the drifting white pillows that seemed content to float along, passing the sun now and then. I feel the grass beneath me and rip a handful out from the ground to play around with as I let a tired breath escape my mouth.
I was probably, without a doubt, so freaking bored right now. There was nothing to do in this tiny little village besides chores and, oh yeah, more chores!
Man, this day sucks! When's dad getting home? He was supposed to have been back this morning, and it's now the afternoon. He better have something good for me from Vale, or I'm gonna kick up a huge stinker.
Before I could continue grumbling, I heard the dread demon's voice shout from behind the hill I was on.
"GRIT, MERRICK! YOU BETTER BE UNCONSCIOUS OR DEAD BECAUSE THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M GOING TO CALL FOR YOU!" screamed the voice of an old banshee.
Great… now my mum is gonna yell at me. What is she even going to get mad at me for? I'm pretty sure I did everything I was supposed to do today.
I climbed to my feet while letting go of the grass in my hand, which flew away with the breeze. I walked up to the top of the hill and saw her standing at the bottom, swivelling her head back and forth, trying to find her prey.
It wasn't surprising that other people went out of their way to avoid her attention and wrath.
Oh wow, she's steaming.
"I'm up here, Mum!" I shouted while waving my hands to catch her attention.
She turned so fast I could've sworn she teleported while metaphorical steam poured out her ears.
I could only gulp as she pointed at the ground in front of her, silently demanding me to stand in front of her in the next five seconds.
Why is she always getting mad at me all the time?
I rushed down as fast as I could to where I stood in front of her. She towered over me by a good foot as she stared back down at me with her light brown eyes, raised eyebrows, and clenched jaw.
She was wearing her blacksmithing apron with her t-shirt rolled up to her shoulders.
One thing that everyone said about my mum was that she was a powerful woman, as even her arms were beefier than most of the dudes I saw around town—well, except for my dad, of course.
I noticed that her light brown hair, usually loose, was now done up in a short ponytail, which showed the sweat on her forehead.
Was she working on something in the forge?
"Yeah?" I asked with annoyance, tinging my words.
Whoops.
That was the wrong thing to say as her previously raised eyebrow quickly morphed into a scowl. She gave me a soft cuff around the head before proceeding to eviscerate me.
"Don't you take that tone with me, young man! I asked you to head to the market this morning to pick up some food for tonight." Oh. "What happened to that list I gave you?"
Panic raced through my body as I could now keenly feel the crumpled-up bit of paper in my left pocket along with some Lien she gave me earlier.
I have to bluff my way out of this one.
"Uhhh, I dunno. Must have blown away in the wind, I guess?" I lied.
Success!
She looked utterly unconvinced as she then crossed her arms.
"Uh-huh, and if I ask you to turn out your pockets now, there isn't going to be a crumpled-up list in there?" She asked while leaning down towards me, not believing a single word out of my mouth.
Crap!
Her intense gaze was so intense that I would instead look at the sun for an hour. However, I'm not ashamed to admit that I surrendered to her force of will.
"N-no, there is," I said while fishing the paper out of my pocket and unfurling it in front of her.
She could only sigh while pinching her brow before standing up straight again.
"Look, Grit, I'm very busy at the forge today, and I have to get everything ready tonight for your sister." She turned around to walk back towards the forge while gently tugging my ear.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
My ear! It's going to come off!
"Do you even remember what day it is today?"
"Not really, because you keep tugging on my ear! It could be Monday, for all I know! Ow!" I yelled as I could feel my ear being pulled off my head.
She growled before letting go of my ear, which I started to rub gently to soothe the pain. Some people walking by were familiar with the typical display and amusedly shook their heads.
"It's your sister's birthday today!" She yelled, causing me and other pedestrians to jump a few feet off the ground.
O-oh, oh no.
As I thought about my little sister, I could feel my stomach turning into a pit. She would be six today, making her two years my junior. And I had just ruined it.
I turned my gaze to my mum, and something in my expression must have conveyed how I felt as her face softened. She knelt in front of me before pulling me into a hug, which I returned.
"I'm sorry, mum, I completely forgot; I've ruined everything now…." I whispered into her ear, and she responded with a slight chuckle.
"You haven't ruined everything just yet, Grit." She said while smiling. "You still have the list, don't you?" She asked.
I nodded my head.
"Then there's still time to get it done, yeah?" She patted my head before standing up and reaching into her apron. "I'm going to give you some extra so you can get Autumn a present." She handed me an extra wad of lien.
Woah! I've never seen this much money before in my life! We have to be rich. I might even have enough for some Fizz- No, get a present for Autumn dummy, nothing for yourself.
"Woo-hoo! Thanks, mum. I'll go do it right now!" I got ready to dash to the market before I felt a pull on my shirt collar holding me in place.
"Now, Grit, you ARE going to do this, right?"
I nodded in enthusiasm, causing my mum to let me go, which nearly resulted in me face-planting onto the cobbled street before I recovered and turned to wave goodbye to my mum.
"See ya later, mum! I'll be back with everything, I swear!"
Mum could only shake her head but still waved back with a smile.
"You better! Or not even your dad will get you out of this one!" She shouted, "Oh, and Grit, if you do this well, I'll make some apple crumble tonight. Ok?"
Sweet! This day has turned out pretty good so far; some apple crumble. My mum isn't annoyed at me, and my dad is coming home today. I must be dreaming!
"Will do, Mum. I'll get it done so fast that I'll be like something really fast! Believe me!" I shouted back, narrowly dodging some people while looking behind me to call.
She only rolled her eyes before making her way back toward the forge.
I focused on my direction toward the market as I tried to run faster to get it done faster.
I'll make this the best birthday ever, I swear!
I CAN'T GO ANY. FURTHER I'M GOING TO DIE!
I panted while dragging my feet towards the market stalls set up along the main road towards the mayor's office, with the sign 'Welcome to Bonfire!' on top in preparation for the upcoming bonfire festival.
How long was I running, you ask? About five minutes.
I never said I was a healthy or active kid, you know? Most of my time consists of lying around and eating whatever isn't nailed down or locked behind cabinets.
The village we lived in wasn't that big; only about a thousand people lived here. We were what my dad called a 'close-knit community where everybody knew everyone around. I waved to a couple of people I sorta recognised that came into our family forge now and then to get stuff fixed like door hinges or getting horseshoes made for the local ranch.
Very few Huntsmen ever came through here; if they did, they would stop by to resupply or rest in the inn, and even fewer came to get their weapons fixed. However, those that did stay in my mind for how freaking awesome they were.
Like that dude who came in and had an axe that turned into a flamethrower or-or-or that lady who had that chakram thingy which she could throw and then call back to her hand. So awesome!
I daydreamed like that for a minute before returning to my senses.
Crap, I need to get the stuff, or my ear will come off this time!
I pulled the list out of my shorts pockets and proceeded to uncrumple it to re-read through it.
"… 3 medium Bramley apples… golden caster sugar… flour… butter… cream and rolled oats?" I muttered softly under my breath as I listed off the ingredients for the apple crumble.
Mum said I would get apple crumble if I was good. But we were going to have it, anyway?
"Dang it, she tricked me again!" I said, raising my voice from the last whisper. Before I could continue my grumbling, I heard a deep chuckle to the left of me.
"So, your mother got you again, huh, Grit?" I turned my head to see an old man with dark skin in his late seventies standing behind a stall with all sorts of fruits, veggies and other assortments of goods.
"Hey Aaranay, yeah, she got me to do the shopping by bribing me with something I love, but it turns out I was getting the thing I wanted the whole time!" I showed him the shopping list, which he reached over the stall to take out of my hands.
He scanned it for a minute before chuckling to himself. "Well, I have everything you need here," Nice! "But if you don't mind me asking, did you not read the list before you left?" He asked with a tilt of his head.
What does he mean by that?
"What do you mean by that?" I responded in confusion.
Aaranay gave a small laugh. "Well, how could she trick you if you read the list before you left? You must have known what you were coming out here for before you left, right?"
Uh… Damn, he's right! How are adults so smart? I can't admit that to him, in any case.
"That's because I-uh-was blinded by um, um-Hey, how's your wife?" A lesson from dad popped into my head.
When in doubt, divert.
Aaranay shook his head while smiling and began bagging up all the items from the list. "Violet is ok, just currently at home resting because of a cold she got the other day." He shook the bag once and handed it over to me, which I had to lean towards to reach. "Tell your mom thanks for the soup she gave us yesterday to help with Violet's fever. It was delicious, and I'm sure Violet and I will be there for the Bonfire festival next week." He leaned back to reorganise his stall, rearranging everything to account for what was missing.
I nodded my head while reaching into my pocket for the Lien. I owed him. "Thanks, Aaranay, I will. How much do I have to give you?" I wasn't very good at counting money or numbers, as that was more of my sister's speciality.
He shook his head in response before leaning over to ruffle my head. "Don't be silly, lad, it's on the house after all your mother does in the forge and your dad on the wall." He leaned back over his stall before reaching under the stall and bringing out a small cupcake with some icing, saying 'Happy Birthday'.
"And, of course, we never charge anything for little Autumn's birthday." He said while smiling.
Woah, free stuff.
"Cool! Thanks, gramps. I'll make sure to tell them!" I yelled before making my way with a wave in his direction.
He waved back. "See you later, Grit, be a good kid today, you hear?" Aaranay called out.
"I'll try my best!" I called back.
Now to get a gift for Autumn, but what would she want? Eh, I've still got time and a LOT of Lien to spend. Hehe.
I continued to walk down the next couple of stalls, eyeing other Knick knacks and other junk that didn't catch my eye until I spotted something shiny from one stall.
I noticed the stall it belonged to had all sorts of jewellery ranging from necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. There was a signboard saying 'Glitzy's Glamour'.
And then I saw it. A silver chain bracelet with little brown leaves on it.
Jewellery? Girly? And pink? This is my golden ticket to the best big brother in the world award.
The woman running the stall looked to be in her early twenties with dyed pink hair and was looking at something on her scroll. I walked towards her and cleared my throat.
"Um, excuse me, miss, how much is this bracelet?" I asked, holding out the bracelet in front of her. She looked up from her scroll to look down at me before letting out a squeal.
"Oooh, aren't you just a cutie! Do you like flowers then? You look just like my nephew." She said while resting her head on her palms and smiling at me, her bright pink eyes shining.
Woah pretty.
My face was feeling hot for some reason, and I was more aware of my messy hair that I had forgotten to wash this morning.
"U-uh yeah–I mean no—they're for my little sister. It's her birthday, and my mom told me to get hersomethingandijustwanttoknowhowmuchitisplease?" I could barely keep my head together when this-this-this succubus was draining my willpower.
She giggled and reached over to pinch my cheek. "Well, lady killer, usually it would be two hundred Lien, but because it's for your sister's birthday, I'll knock it down to one hundred and fifty. Sounds good, yeah?" She said, letting go of my cheek, which I started to rub.
"Uh yeah, that sounds good to me." I searched through my pockets, and the feeling of hard plastic met my fingers. I pulled out the cards my mum gave me, and when counting them out–slowly–I realised I only had a hundred lien in total.
No way… That's not fair.
I didn't know what to think and would have resorted to begging, but a deep voice cut through my despair.
"It's all right. I'll cover the rest, kiddo." I turned to see a giant man standing behind me with broad shoulders, swept-back reddish-brown hair and an easy-going smile on his strong face. There was only one person I knew that could be this big.
"DAD!" the words left my mouth before I could think of them, and my body had already slammed into his leg, grabbing on as hard as I could while he put his hand on top of my head to ruffle around my hair.
He was supposed to have been back this morning.
With that thought, I immediately let go and let him know how mad I was at him by sticking out my lower lip and turning away from him.
I heard him let a small chuckle out of his mouth as he removed his hand from my head to reach into his inside jacket pocket to retrieve some lien while he made conversation with the pretty lady.
"Hey Glitter, how have you been and how's your old man doing? Still grumbling about his hand?" My dad asked where I could imagine. He had a smile on his face.
I could hear the now-named Glitter clear her throat a few times. "H-hey Gin, I didn't realise you were back now. Yeah, he's ok. I think he's just a bit impatient waiting for it to heal, but other than that, yeah, he's all good." I peeked from the corner of my eye and saw Glitter's face was nearly as red as a tomato.
What the… Is that what I looked like?
I could feel something in my stomach turn ugly as my dad continued to chat away with Glitter. I tuned myself out from the conversation until I felt a large hand clap on my shoulder.
I turned around to see my dad looking down at me with his other hand holding a box containing what I assumed was the bracelet inside.
"Come on, Casanova, if we hoof it back now, we can make it back in time for your mum not to be too pis–whoops, I mean mad at us for being late." He laughed before turning around slightly to wave goodbye. "See you later, Glitter. Best wishes to your family, and I'll see you all at the festival next week!"
"See you later, Gin; give my love to Chloe, and I'll see you later, cutie! Oh, and say happy birthday to your daughter for me, please." She said as we left the shop, my ears burning from her calling me cute.
I walked in silence with my dad saying hello to many people we passed by who said hello back happily. As soon as we left the market and there was no one about, he walked in front of me before kneeling.
I still didn't look him in the eye, even when he gently pulled me by the chin to look at him. He sighed and then took a moment to think.
Promise-breaking jerk, don't think I will forgive you that easily.
"… I know you're upset I'm late, Grit, and for that, I'm sorry." Well, maybe I can forgive him a bit. "I was supposed to come back this week, but some… business came up with an old acquaintance, and I lost track of time."
I still wasn't convinced and remained silent.
"I told you that a Merrick always keeps their promise, and I didn't, so that's on me, and if you're mad, then I hope you can forgive me." I started to look up but still not making direct eye contact. "… But maybe I can bribe you a bit?" He said with a slight grin before reaching into his satchel and retrieving a… comic… book.
Is that…?
"No way, the Dustman Adventures #100! Where did you get this? I thought they stopped printing this everywhere?" I couldn't contain my excitement as I grabbed it out of his hand and skimmed through the pages.
Dad chuckled. "Let's say I'm owed a few favours here and there and leave it at that."
I can't believe it; I can't believe he managed to get this! I've been bugging him for weeks and weeks and-
I looked at my dad and back to my comic before back to my dad before crashing into him, hugging him as hard as I could around his thick neck.
Is my neck going to be this big one day?
"… Thanks, dad, I love it." I could feel him relax a bit, and I thought I should squeeze him tighter. "I missed you a lot, dad. I… I hate it when you are away." I said into his neck, which he responded to by holding me a bit tighter.
We stayed like that for a moment before I let go of him, putting the comic into the bag with the groceries. He didn't let go of me, however, and lifted me by my armpits, where I let out a very manly squeak before depositing me on his shoulders.
I can see everything from up here! Is this how big I'm going to get? Man, that's going to be awesome. I hate being short.
We enjoyed the warm air and gentle breeze blowing past us while staying silent. I felt like I needed to say something.
"Hey, dad?"
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"What was it like being a Huntsman?"
I could feel him tense slightly beneath my legs.
"Why do you want to know?" He asked with apprehension in his voice.
I thought about it for a moment. "No reason. I was thinking of the Hunters that came by the forge and remembered that you used to do that stuff."
I could feel dad be less tense after that as he thought over his answer.
"… it was very sad." He said with quietness in his voice that I hadn't from him before. "I prefer working at the wall where I can stay near you kids and your mother."
"Oh." I thought about it before running my hands through his hair. "Well, I like you being here too, dad, and I think mum does too."
Haha, it's so soft. It's like mum or Autumn's hair.
Dad laughed at that as we kept strolling toward our home/forge.
"Oh? Does she now? How do you know that, huh?" He said while wiggling his eyebrows.
I thought of how my mum would always curse him during the day when he was away, but then I remember seeing her at night staring out the living room window like she was waiting for him to come through the front door.
"Well, she always goes on about how stupid you are to Autumn and me before saying that's she glad that Autumn didn't get that from you." Dad laughed at that while giving my thigh a friendly squeeze. "But at night, when she thinks we've gone to sleep, we always see her holding her wedding picture of you two." Dad didn't laugh at that and instead hummed pleasantly.
"Well, I'll show her how much I missed her then." He said with amusement.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, dad; you should let her know!"
Dad laughed at that again, which left me confused. It went quiet again as we walked in silence.
Dad broke the quiet again.
"Do you want to be a Huntsman Grit?" He asked while slowing down a bit.
Do I want to be a Huntsman? Maybe… but now my dad told me that it was sad. I don't think I want to. I like being happy.
"Hmm, I don't know, dad." I thought about it a bit more. "I think I would rather be a spaceman or a superhero. Those are pretty cool jobs, I think."
Yeah, I'll be like Dustman or maybe even Dustman in space! Woah, easy Grit, one step at a time.
"But what about the Huntsman that came by? Weren't they cool?" Dad asked curiously.
"… They are pretty cool, I guess, but…."
"But?"
"… If it made you sad, then I don't think I could do something like that."
"… Are you sure you're my son, Grit? And not some alien who has taken his place?"
"Pretty sure I am. I've still got all ten of my fingers."
My dad's laugh was booming and caused me to vibrate on top of his shoulders, making me giggle.
"Speaking of aliens, I think I see the mother ship over there." He said while pointing towards our house, coming up in the distance.
It was a pretty strange house as the bottom was a smithy complete with all the gizmos and stuff you would find, like an anvil and forge around the back, but the front was where the counter was. However, our home was built above it with two floors, like an average home. The only difference was that the front door was made on the side, and you had to walk up some metal stairs to get to it.
But it was our home all the same.
We came up on it, and I could see the curtains shuffling around by the window overlooking the street before it stopped.
Who was that? Autumn?
"Well, here we are, Grit; you want to do the honours?" My dad said while putting me down and gesturing toward the staircase.
I nodded, eager to give Autumn the present I got for her.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see Autumn's face. She's going to be all like 'wuaghh' and 'uguahh' before worshipping the ground I walk on for the next ten years; meanwhile, I'm going to be driving a sports car by then and be too old for her being all like 'Sorry Autumn I'm too cool for you now and then she's going to be like–Hmmphphph" I muffled through my dad's hand as he looked amused by my tirade.
"That's all well and good, Grit, but how are you doing any of that when you aren't holding the present?" He said while waving it in front of my face. "Where's my credit, huh? Am I going to get a sports car?"
Hmm, I didn't think this through.
"I guess I could give you a mention? Hehe?" I said nervously.
He rolled his eyes. "I guess that's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?" A nod was his only response. "Well, come on then, let's get up there and get this party started." He said while tossing the box to me, which I barely managed not to drop.
I took the lead and went up to the house to knock, but before I could touch it with my knuckles, it opened up to reveal my mum standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow, staring at my dad and me.
She was out of her blacksmith's apron and was now wearing jeans and a white tank top while her hair was tied into a bun.
"Oh, I thought something smelt. What have I told you, Grit, about feeding stray dogs?"
"They'll follow you home?"
She nodded her head with her eyes closed. "That's right; they'll follow you home, and look what's happened." She gestured toward my dad, who stood there with a smirk as he stood there quietly.
I didn't have time for their banter, so I squeezed past my mum, walking past the living room toward the kitchen.
"Well, I guess I must be a pretty good stray dog considering I always seem to find the same bit–"
*gasp* "Don't you dare finish that sentence, you pig!" she shouted while trying to stop herself from laughing.
Dad had no restraint, and I heard him start laughing as I dropped off the bag in the kitchen but took out my comic with my free hand.
"A pig? What's next, a spider?"
"More like a termite, as spiders do something useful."
"Ouch, I guess I'll just head back out then…."
"No! I-I mean, you might as well stay until your daughter's birthday, and until then, you get over here~" I heard my mum say as my dad closed the door behind him and pulled her in, causing her to squeal in delight.
I was halfway up the stairs but nearly fell as hearing that almost caused me to throw up.
Blech, gross.
I was in the upstairs hallway with four doors: One to the bathroom, one to my parent's room, another to my room and the last to my sister's room.
Oh man, she will go crazy when I show her the bracelet.
I walked up to her door, which had a pink wooden heart in the middle and the name Autumn in orange in the middle. I didn't bother knocking, and I never have or will.
She always barges into my room, so why shouldn't I?
I opened the door to see her lying on her bed with her headphones on, kicking her feet up behind her while drawing something in some colouring book she got from dad. I stood behind her before I pulled her headphones off.
She let out an indignant squawk before turning to face me, her scowl quickly turning into a smile.
"Grit! You're back. I thought you were going to be gone all day!" She said while standing up to jump off her bed. She stood in front of me before pulling me into a hug and then pushing me away straight after, crossing her arms with a pout.
"But you're supposed to knock before you enter! Mum told you that, and so did Daddy!" She let out a harrumph while looking expectantly at me.
Huh?
"You always barge into my room! What are you talking about?"
I would not let this Hippocracy stand. Not if I had anything to say about it.
She shook her head with her tongue out while positing her arms into an x shape.
"Bzzt, Bzzt! Wrong Grit! You're wrong!" She uncrossed her arms and stopped shaking her arms. "I'm the younger and cuter sister, so that means I can–hey, what's that in your hand?" She stopped her misguided tirade as she spotted the item in my hand.
"Oho? Do you want to know what's in this box? Well, I'm starting to think you don't deserve to consi- "
"I don't care about a small box. I wanna know whose comic that is?" She said while pointing at my other hand, holding my Dustman comic.
Stupid dumb nerd sister.
"Oh, this is just what dad got me from Vale-"
She interrupted me again. "Daddy's here?" She asked with excitement in her voice.
I could feel my eye twitching as I couldn't get a word in.
"Yeah, he's downstairs–and you are already gone," I finished lamely.
I could hear her feet pounding past me as she ran down the stairs before they stopped for a moment.
"DADDY!" I could hear a soft grunt and something falling over, with my mum yelling and my dad laughing.
"There's my little girl! Happy Birthday, monster!" My dad said in between laughs.
I could only stand in shock with the comic in one hand and her gift in the other. Shaking my head, I walked out of her room towards my own.
Unlike my dumb sister, I had some pretty cool signs, if I say so myself.
'Grits room'
'No girls allowed'
'RADIOACTIVE'
Heh, pretty awesome.
I opened the door to my room and went straight to my bed, where I chucked Autumn's present onto it. I then knelt to reach underneath to pull out a cardboard box.
Opening the box revealed my collection of Dustman comics that my dad and I had collected over the last few years, ranging from collectors' editions to vintage and just the regular printed versions.
This box was one of my most prized possessions, its value was beyond measure, and not even all the Lien in the world or the newest Y-Box were enough for me to give this up. I put my latest addition of Dustman on top of the other comics in there, effectively nearly completing my collection.
I let out a satisfied huff before putting the lid back on and sliding it back underneath the bed, leaving until my next addition. I stood up to look around my room, taking it all in. My bed is in the corner of my room, next to the window. My wardrobe was opposite my bed on the far wall; my desk was on the other wall near it, my chair and all my doodling inside my different books and a mirror hanging on the back of my door.
Glitter said I was a 'cutie'. Was that true?
The only way to confirm it was to check myself out. I walked to my door to shut it so I could fully take in my appearance.
People always told me that I took after my dad in the face but that my hair and eye colour were the same as my mum's. I had messy brown hair matted down a bit due to my not washing it and light brown eyes that seemed gold in specific lighting. I guess something else I got from my mum was this… beauty mark on the lower left corner of my mouth.
I examined everything and found nothing out of place.
"Grit! Come on down; the party is about to start!" I heard my dad shout from downstairs.
"Coming! Gimme five minutes!" I yelled back.
"Yeah, sure, take your time–uh wait, hang on, your mum said it better be five minutes."
I rolled my eyes "… yeah, yeah, whatever." I muttered under my breath.
"What did you say, young man!" Mum exclaimed from downstairs, causing me to jump out of my skin.
Woah, is she some kind of bat Faunus? There's no way she heard that!
"I said yeah, mum, I'll be down in five!" I lied.
Grumbling, I opened my door before I spotted a gold chain with a crest dangling over my desk. I walked over to pick it up and inspected the crest.
It was given to me last year as my birthday gift from my parents, as the crest was the family emblem of the Merrick clan. It was an open palm and an eye in the middle with two swords crossing into the middle, into the hand and out through the bottom.
I asked dad if we had any other family, but he looked sad and said we didn't anymore. When I asked him why, he just said they all went away, and then he didn't speak for the rest of the day, so I never asked him again.
However, I noticed that whenever I wore it, he seemed to cheer up, and today was supposed to be a happy day, so I might as well wear it. Picking it up, I realised my head was small enough to throw it over my neck with no trouble, but one day my mum said my head would get fatter and fatter, so she added a clip to the end to make it easier for that day.
Ok, Showtime.
I gave the mirror one last look before leaving my room.
"GRIT!"
"COMING, JEEZ!"
The party was a success, with people from all over the village coming by to celebrate, wish Autumn a happy birthday and leave while some stayed for a bit to chat with my parents. A few hours later, the 'cake' was finished baking, and anyone who had come to visit had long since cleared out. In between that, I gave Autumn Aaranay's birthday muffin, which she inhaled in one go.
Is she a vacuum in disguise?
The cake was just mum's apple crumble, which was pretty strange compared to regular birthdays, but we went nuts whenever she made it for us. We sat around the table in the dining room, just me, Autumn, and Dad talking and laughing at Dad's jokes, when my mum came walking in from the kitchen, turning off the lights in the meantime.
"Happy Birthday to you~,
Happy birthday to you~,
Happy birthday dear Autumn ~
Happy Birthday to you! ~"
Dad and I had joined in where he was off-key due to his deep voice not being able to go that high, making me try to hold in my giggles.
Autumn squealed when she saw the crumble with a candle with the number six on top and started uncontrollably kicking her legs back and forth underneath the table.
Mum gently put the tray containing the crumble in front of Autumn.
"Make a wish, baby~," my mum said as she pulled out her scroll to start recording. My dad stood up from the table to stand behind Autumn, putting his hands on her shoulders where she blew the candles.
Cheers went up around the room as she managed to get them all in one go.
My dad started shaking her a bit while leaning down next to her.
"Well, come on then, what did you wish for? Some new headphones? Some money? How about a bunch of money?" He said as he stopped shaking her, and they both started laughing.
"No, dad! I can't tell you it's supposed to be a secret; otherwise, it won't come true! You know this, dad!" she said, pushing him away playfully.
He stepped back, pretending to be wounded. "Ach! You outsmarted me again." He then hunched over a bit and started using his hands as claws. "But vone day I vill take your vishes ah ah ah!" He whispered as he made a clawing motion towards Autumn and me, where we both started giggling at his ridiculousness.
Mum, however, rolled her eyes and dragged him by the collar towards the kitchen. "Come on, Count Chocula, you can help me get some bowls and cutlery ready." My dad lamely let himself be dragged away as he hissed at her before she dropped him.
I shook my head at their antics before looking over at Autumn, who looked sad.
"Hey, what's up with you? This has probably got to be the best day of your life, right?" I asked while prodding her in the side, as she slapped my fingers away.
"… I guess so." She replied glumly.
"Come on, what's the matter?" I said, relenting with my pokings.
She muttered something under her breath.
"Whazzat?"
"I said you didn't get me a present!" She shouted with tears in her eyes.
A present? Yeah, I did. I–OH CRAP!
"Hang on, wait here!" I quickly said while getting up from my seat and running past her towards the stairs and my mum and dad, who stared at me in confusion. I got to my room and saw the little box on my bed.
Man, how could I have been so stupid!
I grabbed the box and rushed back out of my room past my parents, who were still confused about me running by; it was just my mum as my dad saw the box and caught on quickly. He held my mum by the shoulder, preventing her from asking me what was happening.
I saw Autumn still sitting in the chair, sniffing away her tears before I sat in the seat and presented the box to her.
She looked confused for a bit before a smile split her face.
*gasp* "You did remember! You did! You did! You did! Thank you so much!" I could tell she was getting ready to glomp me, so I put a hand up to stop her.
"Woah, hold up a second. You don't even know what it is yet! Relax and open it up!" I said, trying to calm her down.
That seemed to settle her down, but she still had a smile.
"That's true; you might have put dog poo in here." She giggled while starting to pull the ribbon holding the box together.
"Hey! I would do that any other day, but not on birthdays! That is a ceasefire day." I explained. However, it seemed to fall on deaf ears as she pulled out the bracelet inside the box, examining every inch and focused on the brown leaves decorating the silver chain.
She stopped looking at it and put it back in the box.
CRAP, SHE HATES IT. THIS WAS NOT PART OF THE PLAN!
I cleared my throat uncomfortably as her stare became piercing, and she started shaking.
"Uh, if you don't like it, I can always take it back and get you–oomph!" I was cut off from the sentence as she launched herself at me wrapping her tiny arms around my waist and taking me to the floor.
Regaining my bearings, I saw the human missile attached to me staring right back up at me with tears pouring down her face and some snot running down her nose.
"I wub it Gwit, I weally weally wub it, iz tha bess present ever I wub it so much Gwit *hiccup*," she said, barely intelligible before letting out another cry causing our parents to run into the room.
I could feel my face getting hotter, and I needed to get out of there. I wasn't used to my sister showing me this much affection, and it was starting to weird me out.
Seeing my little sister holding her present and clambered all over me made my mum start cooing and awing while taking photos. Dad saw my embarrassed face and had to bite his knuckle to stop himself from laughing while mum jabbed him with her elbow.
Eventually, my dad pulled Autumn off me while she kept trying to be re-glued to my side.
"Come on, kid's time to eat the cake! You can cry after." He said, which positively offended my mum.
"What are you, stupid? This is a precious moment that has to be savoured that we can look back on when we are old!" She said while cuffing him around the head.
"Yeah, but can't we savour it after we eat?" He asked, genuinely confused.
That was the wrong answer, as she launched into a tirade while my dad laughed as hard as he could, letting go of my sister, who immediately dived back onto me.
"Thank ub so much Gwit! I will tweasure fowever and ever!" She said while blubbering all over me.
I tuned her and my parents out as they argued over the cake.
People say I take after my mum and dad in a perfect mixture.
But if there was one thing I could change about my appearance, it would be to change my eye colour.
I would change it to my dad's and sister's, which I was always jealous about.
Because whenever they got happy or emotional, their eyes shined so brightly.
The brightest silver I had ever seen.