Supernatural: Chronicles of the Order 8
Chapter 16: A Piece of the Action Figures
(DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Supernatural because it belongs to Eric Kripke and Warner Bros. So, enjoy the show! Rated M for graphic violence, adult content, and adult language.)
Maro was struggling to remove the collar from his neck as he found it to be very unbearable indeed. After his failed attempt to force me into going on the field again backfired, he was not too happy with what was happening as he was simply kept in the slug roe home that he stayed at near the old lighthouse. When he went outside, he saw the castle heavily lit as he wasn't about to take no for an answer, but his response was limited due to the punishment that Pendragon imposed on him. All he did was glare at me as I was sleeping in my room at the time. Still, Maro didn't have a choice but to force me to stay put in my convalescence as he was under the microscope of his punishment, for he wasn't done with me yet.
"You're making a mistake into resuming your convalescence, Sam," he said to himself as he was fiddling with the collar around his neck. "You continue to 'recover' while people are dying at the hands of our enemies."
"Try as you might, but Sam is still off limits," said Nelliel as he appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh, great; a Knight of Heaven that is willing to strike me down."
"Not this time, Maro… Even though both you and Seto forced him to go on the field half-cocked, he still suffers from the exhaustion and other form of ailments that he's been trying to put a damper on in the past two years."
"You could've healed him with those angelic powers of yours instead of sitting on the sidelines while he sits on his ass."
"He isn't doing this on purpose, Maro. And for the record, some of us healed him temporarily, but the battle against Sawney Masbath damaged him in many ways that no angel could heal him up to full. You and Seto should've known about this in which the latter backed off and is now forcing him to stay put while you kept going."
"The Executive Division will stop at nothing to tear Valinor asunder with Project Helios, which is dormant on the Sol-4. Sooner or later, Sam will return to the field and I will even force him to embrace his raw power a little more instead of treating it as a hindrance."
"Do that and you'll never remove that collar on your neck." Maro feels it burning him as he gasps in pain. "You should also pay attention to what is happening to Sam in which he is in dire need of recovering from what happened to him two years ago. Once his recovery gets up to full, then he can fight with the rest of the Order, but for now, we should have patience instead of forcing an injured racehorse on the battlefield."
Maro began to sulk as he was forced in a corner by Nelliel, who wasn't about to let him off the hook. Still, he was forced to endure his punishment as he had no other choice but to wear the collar around his neck in shame, for he couldn't bear it too much. He was desperate to get rid of the collar he wore as he was yelling out in pain, for he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. Anger flooded him as he was not too happy with me for backing away from my work, for he was not having it right now.
"Lies…," he said. "Everything that the Order has told us is an all-out lie! And yet, I see that Sam is in convalescence while more people are dying at the hands of the Executive Division. Sooner or later, Sam will answer the call, even if it meant by going against the Order's wishes…"
"You can't impose coercion on an injured man," said Nelliel. "Doing so would only do more harm than good."
"People are dying at the hands of the Executive Division and you force an injured man to do nothing while the rest of us suffer? This is nothing more than a travesty and I won't have it! Never again will we be forced to lose to our enemies. I swear to the likes of Pendragon Himself that I will defy His punishment and force Sam to return to the battlefield whether he likes it or not. I've seen too much of what the Executive Division has done and we will win this ongoing war that was started up in the first place!"
"Say what you want, but you can't rescind Pendragon's rules. Besides, a man who went through battle should recover at his own pace."
Maro's protestations were to no avail as he was defeated by his own folly. Still, he was enduring the punishment that Pendragon placed upon him as he was unable to cause havoc to force me back on the field, for it was a fitting punishment for him when it came to dealing with the consequences that followed...
The next morning, I was up as I was busy strolling in my wheelchair on Skald Island in which I decided to go towards some of the businesses that were there all over. The business district was a treasure trove of many things that ranged from restaurants to toy fare. I even noticed a novelty store that had ancient pop art for sale as I wanted to check it out when I had time for it. The business district was homely for this part of town on Skald Island as I later noticed a restaurant that had the words, "Kwangya in Motion" in Korean letters etched on the awning in front of it. I never saw anything like it before as I was ready to go inside in which I spotted a young boy running out of there with a steamed bun in his hands. What I didn't expect was that an Orcress with navy hair and purple eyes rushed out of there as she caught up to him the moment she was ready to let him have it, for she wasn't too happy with him for pilfering a steamed bun in the first place.
"You shouldn't be pilfering food without paying," I heard her say to him. "The people here in the Skalvarg Archipelago don't take too kindly to thieves, especially those who would steal a kimchi bun in broad daylight without paying."
"I'll pay for the boy's kimchi bun," I said as I got out my change pouch and took out some money.
"Sam Winchester… It's been a long time since my dad caught up with you after you ended up getting your ass handed to you by Minara."
"Alma Farragut… I never expected you to be here on Valinor."
"It's Alma Tzippinar now, but Orza, god and the Matriarch rest his soul, lost his life from what the Terrans call stage four colon cancer three years ago."
"You were always a tough one in which you always catch people in the act."
"I'll let the kimchi bun debacle pass for now, but as for the boy who pilfered it, he's been hanging all over the alleyway and even averting the evening patrol at night."
I carefully looked at the boy as he was eating the kimchi bun in which he wasn't complaining despite the fact that hunger conquered all inhibitions. The appearance he had alarmed me as he was dressed in ratty clothing complete with a tattered shirt with the serial number, "A-13608," in black letters. Alma recognized the clothing very well as she had a gut feeling that the boy came all the way from Harkonnen due to what industrial means that most monsters bargain with.
"I know where he came from," she said. "He came all the way from Harkonnen in which Leviathans often raise Terrans for food."
"The boy is lucky, but it seems that he had it rough in a Leviathan pen than being out on the streets," I said. "I bet that the higher-ups from SucroCorp don't even care if they lost one of their own piece of livestock just to make it over here to Valinor."
"Leviathans aren't the types to lose livestock since Colchuvar led his group to shut down SucroCorp before it resurfaced. Still, they care about the preservation of Terrans just to fill their gullets on a daily basis. They even trade with the five monster families on Kaijirin in which one of them has a disdain for dealing with Midori Kurohana and her underlings."
"One of the five monster families?"
"The Hill-Barton family hates Leviathans and the head of it has issued a gag order on trading with them. From the look of things, that family hasn't been on good terms with the top dogs of the five monster families, the Duvals."
I looked at the boy as he finished eating his kimchi bun. Still, I couldn't abandon him as I also had to report him to the patrol, but not now. To my shock, I saw the boy kneeling as he was crying with tears running down his cheeks. He was in bad shape as even Alma wanted to take him in instead of forcing him back to Harkonnen, for she had a loathing for any monster who uses Terrans for livestock.
"Do you have a name?" she asked.
"My name is A-13608," answered the boy.
"Do you know where your parents are?" I asked.
"My parents were made for one purpose on Harkonnen and that is to be eaten by the monsters who farm us like livestock. My parents…, they were sold and butchered into meat for the people who owned me."
"You're lucky that you escaped," said Alma. "You say that your name is A-13608, but don't you have a proper name?"
"On Harkonnen, all males have serial numbers with the letter 'a' next to them while the females have the letter 'e.'"
"Letter a and Letter e… as in Adam and Eve, who were the first Terrans that their God crafted. For the record, I'll let the bun theft slide in which you need to be cleaned up and out of those clothes. And another thing, I've got two boys of my own and I don't mind a third in which I'll call you Alphonse instead of a serial number. Still, you're not on Harkonnen anymore and you're better off here in a loving home instead of being on some Leviathan's dinner plate. The gods and the Matriarch are always watching you and no one will tell you otherwise."
Alma was eager to take the boy in as she didn't want him to be out on the streets. I was also glad that the boy, who is now known as Alphonse, is happy to be under the protection of the Orcress who saw him pilfering a kimchi bun. I was also happy that the boy was safe from harm instead of being a Leviathan's main course, for it was a blessing that was there for a reason. Speaking of blessings, I saw Dirk and Gyatso rushing into the business district as they were going into the toy and novelty store the moment I wheeled myself to follow them. Still, they were troublemakers on their good days, but they were also there to spend the day looking at some of the ancient pop culture that has graced the galaxy for many centuries. When I made it inside, I spotted them looking at the display of leg lamps that were crafted in the forms of superhero legs complete with lampshades with their respectable logos.
"Take a look at those," said Gyatso as he saw one of the lamps that looked like Superman's leg with a lampshade that had his logo. "I hope it's not Superman's leg that got dismembered…"
"It's made out of plastic and fabric," said Dirk. "In the old days, they had the traditional leg lamps that had a fishnet stocking, high heel, and all the electric sex glowing in the window."
"There's even a Batman leg lamp, a Green Lantern leg lamp, a Wonder Woman leg lamp, an Aquaman leg lamp, and a Flash leg lamp."
"And there's all the electric legs of justice on display," I said.
"Hey, Sam," said Dirk as he was looking at some action figures on display. "I never expected you to come around here before."
I also noticed the action figures of old as I spotted a set of deluxe ThunderCats action figures that were in a display case. The sight of Lion-O, Panthro, Cheetara, Tygra, the ThunderKittens WylieKatt and WylieKitt, and Snarf in good condition in their glass case was nostalgic for me as I noticed the owner of the novelty store at the cash register reading one of the popular Supernatural books in which he was also a Draaza due to the purple comb he displayed, for he was in charge of the store after all.
"Those action figures remind me of those days when kids ran home to watch their favorite cartoons," he said. "It also reminds me of what happens in Mint Condition when the employee got his ass handed to him by a Panthro toy and that was when his late employer caught him stealing."
"You have a knack for collecting nostalgia," I said.
"I always gravitated to old-fashioned toys from the nineteen-eighties. That decade was the best out of the twentieth century in which it crafted the coolest toys and action figures. I even crafted most of the iconic toys that even spawned the classic cartoons that we knew and loved today. For example, take the Transformers and how it originated from the Takara-Tomy toy company in Japan in which it inspired how robots change into vehicles and planes. The people at Hasbro wanted to name one of their villain Transformers High-Beam, but it was turned down because it was slang for a woman's erect nipples. In the end of it all, they decided on Megatron to be the evil Decepticon leader going toe-to-toe with the Autobot, Optimus Prime, whose original name was Convoy in Japan."
"You know a lot about those toys in which I never heard of until now. As for the ThunderCats display, you knew how to craft them."
"I also know how to make those iconic leg lamps that were inspired from A Christmas Story in which Ralphie's father won a leg lamp that later got busted up. For a while the legs were crafted from mannequin leg parts that had the usual fishnet stocking, high heel, and lampshade with fringe. These days, I make leg lamps inspired by DC Comics superheroes and the biggest leg lamp seller from that line happens to be the Batman one."
I continued to look at the leg lamps as I also noticed some of them even inspired by anime in which I noticed some that ranged from Sailor Moon to Naruto. It was a treasure trove of nostalgia as I was also wanting to buy something in here, but all of that was not for me. The sight of getting a leg lamp in the form of one of the DC superheroes seemed promising as I was most likely to be buying one of them just to add more fun to what I had, but I wasn't into it. Still, I couldn't let myself have too much fun as I also had to get back to the castle near the beach in which I also had make it before the day was over. Still, I couldn't hang around too much as I had to leave without buying anything. When I noticed Dirk and Gyatso looking at the action figures on display, they also saw the clock ticking closer to two in the afternoon. When we all left empty-handed, we were leaving the business district as I was thinking to myself that all that nostalgia was mainly not for me due to not being a child anymore. All I wanted was to have the children be out in the open instead of me as I was also starting to have regrets. Even though I went into the novelty shop and coming back empty-handed, I took off in my wheelchair as I was reaching the castle with Dirk and Gyatso taking the lead. By the time we all returned, I wheeled myself to the beach as I saw the waves crashing near the shore, for I was comforted by the happy splendor of it.
"I know that I have all this happiness, but I can't cling to nostalgia forever…," I said to myself.
I continued to watch the ocean waves as I even saw the many seaships coming and going in and out of the harbor in which I also began to shiver from the chill of the northern wind despite the fact that I was bundled up in my warm coat and blanket. When I wheeled myself back inside, I went towards the dining hall as I warmed myself by the fireplace. The warmth gave me little comfort as I was also missing the nostalgia that I left behind, but lately, it has been all frivolous and mainly built for children. When I left the dining hall and went into the sitting room, I wheeled myself to where Reiko was busy tending to the younger children in which they were playing with their toys. I didn't mind their company as I later noticed Dirk and Gyatso bringing a large box into the sitting room. The box itself was wooden as it had the word, "fragile," in black letters. Reiko never expected to see anything like it before as she saw Dirk and Gyatso open it up with a hammer.
"This box is tough," I heard Gyatso say as he took out the nails that kept the box sealed.
"Hence the word, 'fragile' all over it," said Dirk.
Both boys continued to open the box as they finally got it open in which it was covered with shredded paper in which I noticed something inside. Reiko later helped Dirk and Gyatso get out a blue mannequin leg with a red boot glued onto it as she saw it to be gaudy due to how it was put in there. I noticed the top of the mannequin leg with a lamp top with a lightbulb attached to it as I even noticed a plug that stuck from the bottom of the boot. By the time they found a lampshade, it was fashioned with red, yellow, and blue satin trim complete with the Superman logo stitched onto it. I never expected to see a leg lamp like that as it was assembled and placed near the nightstand while it was plugged into the wall socket. The sight of the leg lamp was both nostalgic and atrocious at the same time as I noticed Reiko digging into the wooden box to find a second leg that was painted grey with a black boot attached to it. The leg itself was simply another lamp as I saw the top of it where a lightbulb was in which I noticed Reiko stand it up when she later found the lampshade decorated in black, grey, and yellow to cover it, complete with the Batman logo sewn onto it.
"And we have a matching set altogether," I said.
"There's one more, Sammy," said Reiko as she saw yet another mannequin leg with red boot on it.
"One more?"
I saw Reiko set up the flesh-colored mannequin leg with the red boot as it had the lamp top with a lightbulb attached to it. Digging into the box further, she found a lampshade that had red and blue with a white trim and stars on it complete with gold ribbon stitched all over it complete with the Wonder Woman logo. All three leg lamps were assembled and put all over the sitting room as they were plugged in and shining all over. I never expected to see the three lamps to be put into the castle as I saw Dirk and Gyatso marveling at the sight of electric justice in the sitting room. I ended up having the trifecta of DC Comics' original trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in the form of leg lamps in the sitting room until now, for it was unexpected until now.
"We're expecting electric justice instead of electric sex in this room," said Dirk as he saw the leg lamps all over the sitting room. "I never expected them to be put here until someone up and bought them to be in the castle."
"I never planned on buying anything at that store, but whoever purchased those leg lamps for me must have did it as a joke," I said. "I know that I haven't been nostalgic lately in which I didn't have the time to do so."
"There's a note in there," said Gyatso as he found it in the wooden box filled with paper.
I was handed the note as I opened it up in which I saw that it was addressed to me. I never expected to see a note like that in a long time as I was reading it so readily, for it also had the Trelundar family seal in the back of it.
Dear Sam (It read),
I know that you're still recovering from that terrible battle against that douchebag, Sawney Masbath, two years ago (may he rest in piss), but I see that you found a connector that interlocks with the island of your choice on the four planets that the Order's main headquarters is located at. I'm also glad that my sisters have came with you just to not only be family, but your bodyguards to not only you, but Lady Reiko and the kids as well. I fight the good fight, but I can't let you do all the heavy lifting all the live long. Anyway, stay recovering, okay? You've been through the ringer for too long in which the battle you had nearly killed you. Everyone is rooting for you to get better, for I also sent the trifecta of the Justice League in leg lamp form to keep you company.
Sincerely,
Dulcetta Trelundar.
I never expected one of the Trelundar family to write and send me those leg lamps before until now as I saw them glowing all over the sitting room. Still, I had to focus on my convalescence as I didn't want any more sadness getting the better of me, for I had a long way to go before doing anything else at this time…
Later on in the evening, the business district was quiet as everyone was in bed for the night except for the evening shift that was enjoying happy hour on high octane. In an inn across the street from Kwangya in Motion, there was the Draaza woman who was managing it as she happened to be the baby of the Trelundar family. The Draaza woman, Dulcetta, had a cyan comb with purple eyes as she was dressed as a kunoichi complete with boots and a pink skirt underneath her garb. She was the manager of the inn as she also had pictures of her siblings on the wall. As for the pictures of her parents, they were in a shrine as they had some cone incense burning in a metal container, for she honored them to this day.
"Oh, this is one hell of a day in the business district with most of the Norsefolk here going fishing or farming in the inner lands of this island," she said to herself as she was polishing off the shrine.
It wasn't long until Dulcetta heard the door opening up as she noticed a suspicious person dressed in a black hoodie enter into the lobby. She never saw the figure before as she followed it upstairs to the room near the laundry area. When she caught up to the intruder, she stopped whoever was there as she took out a silver dagger in defense, for she never cared for suspicious people in hoodies.
"You can put away the butcher knife 'cause I'm only here for the night until I take the ferry to one of the mainlands where the spaceships are parked," said the suspicious person.
"Whoever you are, you're really running red flags here," said Dulcetta.
The suspicious person turned around as Dulcetta recognized the figure very well. It was a female Djinn as she removed her hoodie to show her bald head all decorated with multiple tattoos in which she was mainly there for a reason, for she was staring out the window to where Kwangya in Motion stood. With a smile on her face, she was glad that the one who was there had a much greater future, for it was worth it in the end.
"That's the last of the kids," said the Djinn as she saw the boy from earlier enjoying a comfortable life with Alma and her family. "It's the least I can do just to give the bottom feeders at SucroCorp the finger."
"Delancey Hill-Barton," said Deejatra. "You're far from home on Kaijirin, but why come here all of a sudden?"
"Two years ago, I busted up a crate of children that were earmarked for breeding just to be eaten by any monster who would want seconds on their dinner table on Harkonnen. I scattered them to good homes in which I couldn't allow those clowns from SucroCorp devour them."
"I take it that you've been a thorn in the Leviathans' sides for a while."
"For the record, my kind always feasted on the blood of our victims, but after seeing those who took the knee to the Executive Division serve as fodder, we caught some of them to feed as punishment for betraying Emperor Sarno XII. When I heard about the downfall of Sawney Masbath, I was more than glad that the bastard is dead and buried in space."
"I saw it on the news. Even though Sawney Masbath was the Emperor's bastard son, he was disowned by him after he ended up in prison for blackmail, only to escape and cause havoc. As for your family, on the other hand, they don't take kindly to Leviathans, do they?"
"My old man hates Leviathans after they saw many children put into pens just to be fatten yearly and eaten. He always had a soft spot for kids in which the ones he spotted came from the Sprawl on Lannister in which the dickbag who ran that racket got busted and went to Angmar Prison. Thankfully, he lad a loophole by busting them out and hiding them from the Leviathans. I also rained on their parade by taking some of them to the central part of the Ashizoka System in which some of them even made their home in a place called Zama Village on Erebor."
"You did good for a member of the five monster families."
"The Duval Family call the shots when they trade with Leviathans, but my family hates them to the core. As soon as I leave the Skalvarg Archipelago, I'll be taking off to Kaijirin as planned. I'll spend the night here, but in the morning, I'm out."
"Fair enough, but if you're caught by the patrol, the Hunter Corps will take you down, so I suggest that you leave before sunrise."
Dulcetta made her point clear as she also didn't want to attract attention from anyone due to the presence of Delancey, whose family were under the feet of the Duvals, who were mainly the top dogs of the five monster families that lived on Kaijirin. Still, she had to keep her for the night as she also had work to do tomorrow, for she would soon pay a visit to the novelty shop across the street again…
The next morning, Dulcetta woke up as she was ready to start the day. When she went downstairs to the lobby, she noticed that Delancey was gone in which she saw a note on the front desk. Picking it up, she had a feeling that her unusual guest had to go home as she was also not only a thorn in the side of Leviathans, but the Duvals who were mainly on top of everything in the five monster families.
Hey (It read),
I had to take off before everyone got up and started the day. I took the early ferry to one of the mainlands in order to catch a spaceship back to Kaijirin. As for the kids that I helped rescue, I'm hoping that the last one doesn't get into too much trouble after I spotted him stealing a kimchi bun from Kwangya in Motion yesterday. I hope that he and the other children I helped to save have a much better life than being in a pen like cattle just to end up on some hungry Leviathan's dinner plate. Anyway, let's hope that the future savior recovers to full just to give the Executive Division the finger in the future, for he's got more honor than anyone in his position in the Order of Letters. Therefore, in this ongoing war, it's not the normal humanoids who get targeted by Liesel Eichenberg and her allies in the Executive Division, but it's the others in the five monster families on my homeworld in which we're the only one in the pantheon who stood up to those sickos. Still, every planet in the Ashizoka System is on high alert in which there's no end to what got started up in the first place, for we'll put an end to this war, regardless of what happens next.
Sincerely,
Delancey Hill-Barton.
Dulcetta put the note away in her desk as she heard footsteps approaching in which she saw Seto arriving in which she was always suspicious as usual. Still, she had to report to the Order about suspicious monster activity, for her guest was more than just a thorn in the side of her enemies.
"Good morning, Seto," she said.
"There was a monster here last night and you didn't report it, did you?" she said with an air of suspicion. "From what I heard, your guest took off to one of the mainlands and made it back to Kaijirin just to add more fuel to the fire to the ongoing feud between her family and the Duvals, who happen to be the top dogs in the five monster families."
"That's none of your business, Seto. Delancey Hill-Barton came here to my inn just for one night after she dropped off that kid just to be in a more comfortable environment than being bred for dinner like cattle."
"I know about the Hill-Barton family and they had bad blood against anyone who came and went just to trade for the Leviathans on Harkonnen. They were trying their damnedest to hide the shipment of kids that came out of the Sprawl on Lannister two years prior, which the corporate suits from SucroCorp had its profits take a hit."
"Leviathans are not gonna care whether they get or lose a shipment of livestock, which is scattered all over the galaxy."
"Leviathans do care about their shipment, but they're also backed in a corner in which the only trading partners happen to be four out of the five monster families just to make a profit in their stock market. As for our patron Djinn saint, we're not pursuing her after the Order got multiple reports about stray children being taken in by foster families who are grateful that they didn't be added to the Leviathan's menu."
"I'm hoping that A-13608 has a safe home after what he went through. As for the novelty next door, I bought a certain cripple three of Enliir's special leg lamps that resemble the trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman yesterday."
Seto was aware of Dulcetta's purchase of the leg lamps as she saw the receipt from Enliir's novelty shop across the street next door to Kwangya in Motion. What she didn't expect was that the boy, now known as Alphonse, was busy reading some books in which he was also struggling how to read and write. When she left the inn, she walked to the restaurant as she saw the boy reading a children's book in which he was reading the words carefully, for he didn't take his eyes off of it.
"Nice book," she said.
"Miss Alma and her family gave this book to me," said Alphonse.
"Let me guess, you're reading Harry the Dirty Dog, aren't you?"
"It's about a dog who doesn't want a bath, so he changed colors, spots and all."
"You went through a rough patch, didn't you?"
"Miss Delancey didn't want me to be caught by the Leviathans in which she brought me here to Valinor. I wanna thank her for helping me and I also wanna thank Miss Alma for letting me read."
"You're learning the ropes on reading, aren't you?"
"Miss Alma gave me some alphabet and number books just to learn how to spell and count. Before I was being shipped off to Harkonnen, Miss Delancey came and destroyed the freighter that most of us came in. She stopped the Leviathans and saved us kids from being dinner in which she had to scatter us to loving families just to be safe and away from the pens on Harkonnen."
It wasn't long until Seto spotted me wheeling myself back into the business district as I was there to check up on things. When I noticed Alphonse sitting there reading his book, he was improved as he was dressed in warmer clothes than the ones he wore yesterday. As usual, it was the morning rush as it was basically a Saturday in which the other children were busy playing out in the park next to the bakery, but Alphonse wanted to do more reading due to his lack of skills that were taken away from him during his time in the underground prison underneath Cesare Zampano's villa two years ago. I was more than glad that the boy was thriving as he continued to read at Harry the Dirty Dog the moment he kept up on his reading, for it was a godsend after all.
"I take it that you didn't want to be cooped up, Sam," said Seto.
"I was just here to check up on the boy who pilfered one of Alma's kimchi buns," I said.
"I heard about you having a fetish for legs."
"The three leg lamps were a gag gift and nothing more, which doesn't sit with me."
"You got the legs of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all displaying electric justice instead of the usual electric sex in the window."
"Don't remind me… I didn't want them and I'm willing to give them back to Dulcetta."
"You better not! I take it that you don't have time to indulge in the finer things in life and it hurts so badly."
"I go to the beach sometimes to watch the waves crashing on the shore, but marveling at a bunch of leg lamps? Seeing them in the sitting room is an embarrassment in which I'm too old to be seeing those things in there where children are present. As soon as I move them somewhere, the better."
I wasn't having it as I was feeling the pinch of embarrassment from getting the three leg lamps yesterday. I was wanting to get rid of them as I was too old for nostalgia. By the time I was about to wheel myself back to the castle, I saw Seto in front of me as she wasn't about to let me go home right away. The words she heard from me was more than enough to yank me out of my wheelchair and onto the ground in which the impact skinned my knees to the point of bleeding, for she wasn't about to let me get away with what I said earlier.
"How could you say that?!" she yelled. "How could you possibly call nostalgia an embarrassment?!"
"The leg lamps in the sitting room are a travesty!" I yelled as I slowly got up on my feet. "I could hardly go in there without the embarrassment that's been heavily lit up all over!"
"All this over a bunch of lamps that were in the same vein like the one in A Christmas Story?"
"I don't like them in the castle! They don't sit too well for me!"
"When was the last time you marveled at something great?"
"The beach is something great."
"I'm not talking about that oversized cat box, Sam! I'm talking about the leg lamps in which you were threatening to toss them out after Dulcetta took her time to get them for you!"
"I never wanted the leg lamps, okay?! I didn't plan on buying them, either!"
"But you got them anyway."
"As soon as I get rid of them, the embarrassment will end."
"You missed out on so much in which you even filtered out the nostalgia that binds all people with happiness. You can't get rid of it anyway. Most of your life, you spent your remainder of your childhood to the point of manhood in that fort on Gehenna, only to toss it aside just to piss on cue in front of that petty blowhard, Sylvanus. All you did was waste the most of your life doing servant work instead of clinging to all the nostalgia that kept everyone happy. You never got the opportunity to have more fun in your childhood, only to be reduced to servitude. You didn't just toss your childhood aside, it was taken away from you right from the start just to become so docile enough to be used as a weapon instead of a person. Well, Cinderella, are you willing to continue shitting or are you willing to get off the pot?"
I got back in my wheelchair as I rushed back to the castle in which I entered inside to where the sitting room was. The sight of the three leg lamps standing up on their pedestals was simply the worst that has happened in which I was ready to unplug them and toss them outside. The sight of them made me cringe as I wanted to get rid of them, for this was too much to bear. Just as I was about to do so, I heard footsteps approaching as I turned around and saw Reiko entering into the sitting room in which she was staring at the leg lamps the moment she marveled at the craftwork that was put into them, for they were there to stay after all complete with the embarrassment that followed.
"The leg lamps look so pretty and the one who made them crafted them with all the love and care that were put into them," I heard her say as she was looking at them. "We should thank the one who made them."
"The leg lamps are good and all…," I said as I stayed my hand from destroying them. "I was about to get rid of them, but they're better off here in the sitting room." I felt defeated as I looked at all three leg lamps that were glowing from their pedestals. "I can't bring myself to doing it and I have missed out on so much the moment I was taken away to Gehenna all those years ago."
"You don't have the heart to do it, Sammy. Besides, you feel nostalgic for those leg lamps in which you should also thank Dulcetta for buying them for you. You can't be rude and threaten to get rid of a set of gifts that are more like blessings instead of embarrassment."
I couldn't say no to Reiko nor destroy the leg lamps in the sitting room as I looked at them with such nostalgia in mind. When I stared at the trio of leg lamps, I felt a wave of energy surging all over me as I was remembering how I stared at something like that when I was little, for I had those gifts that reminded me of not being too cranky. It wasn't long until I felt tears running down my cheeks as I simply wept at the notion of not having enough fun in my life, for I needed it the most.
"I missed out on so much over the years…," I said.
"You suffered from so much," said Reiko.
"I'll write a note to Dulcetta and I'll thank her for the leg lamps. It's the most I can do."
"You should also be happy for seeing the leg lamps here. They really are the best decorations that I ever saw here in this castle."
It wasn't long until Reiko noticed my knees skinned and bleeding as she healed them up nicely. It was also a reminder not to do something that I would come to regret as I stared at the three leg lamps that were there on display. The sight of them were once meant to be an embarrassment until I realized that I really was missing out on so much nostalgia in which I kept weeping, for I nearly tried to destroy the electric justice that was blazing in the sitting room.
"It's bizarre that we have those things here," I said.
"The children don't mind them," said Reiko. "They're gaudy, but elegant in which the leg lamps are very pleasant when you look at them a little better."
"It's the sight of electric justice on display, but they were crafted in many ways than one."
I continued to look at the leg lamps as I felt more calmer than just wanting to get rid of them. In the end of my debacle, I couldn't bring myself to do it as I was defeated by the art of nostalgia that gave me an edge to look at the leg lamps that were blazing in the sitting room. Still, I couldn't say no to nostalgia as I looked at what was put in front of me, for the leg lamps in the forms of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were here to stay after all…
To be continued...